A New Beginning
by Lum
Summary: Erik leaves for America after Christine's betrayal. While designing a home for a wealthy man he can't keep his eyes off of his employer's lovely daughter. Once burned, twice shy, can Erik overcome his fears in order to find love? EOW EOC Kay Leroux ALW
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**

I do not own the rights to the Phantom of the Opera. This is a work of fiction based on the works of Gaston Leroux, Andrew Llyod Webber, and Susan Kay. I in no way intend to infringe upon the copyrights of above said artists and am making no profit from this work. This story may contain adult situations, language, and romantic scenes which may not be suitable for minors. A toned down version will be posted here. If you wish to receive an un-edited adult chapter pleasee-mail me or state so in a review.

**A New Beginning**

**Prologue**

Erik surveyed the destruction of his lair. The mob had ruined everything, looting anything they thought of value and tearing apart anything that wasn't. The magnificent organ he had lovingly composed upon was now beyond repair.

Several of the ivory and ebony keys were ripped from the frame, the metal parts twisted and distorted. He depressed one of the remaining keys and cringed when the once beautiful note came out sour. He sighed heavily as the destruction weighed in his mind.

The beautiful room he had once prepared for Christine was robbed of its beauty. _'Christine… even my beautiful, sweet Christine has forsaken me to this cold unfeeling hell.'_ He crossed through what was once an ingenious torture chamber, the metal tree the only thing whole as each and every mirror was broken or cracked into thousands of pieces.

Crossing to his bedchamber he noticed that his coffin had been left undisturbed. _'Stupid superstitious lot,'_ Erik thought to himself. He moved to the far wall and using a sharp piece of debris managed to pry loose a piece of stone in the wall. His 6'3" frame easily allowed him to pry apart the stone by the ceiling.

Reaching into the crevice he retrieved a heavy bag, looking inside eased his nerves a bit, the gold, gem-encrusted cat collar from Persia and other valuables lay undisturbed. Ayesha, the long haired Persian he had stolen from the Shah, had long ago passed away from old age.

The heavy weight of gold and gems reassured him that forethought is everything and he would recover from this mess as he did every time disaster struck. It was time to pay the daroga a visit; it was time to leave France. Where to go, however, was the question.

**One Month Later**

To say that Nadir Khan was surprised to see Erik in his apartment when he returned from the apothecary would be an understatement. "Erik, must you always attempt to make my old heart stop with ghostly appearances and disappearances? What is it you want of me now?"

Erik relaxed into the leather wingback chair by the fireplace and quietly studied the Persian man before him. Locking the door behind him and crossing to the opposite chair Nadir deposited his packages on the side table and sank into the comfortable leather. Erik solemnly regarded

his companion a moment before he replied, "I am leaving France, it no longer holds my interest. I have several tasks that require your assistance."

Erik thought a moment, as if considering how much to say. "I require money, and as you can guess it has become difficult for me to procure it. You will withdraw 50,000 franks from the bank account I entitled you as the owner of seven years ago. Of that sum you will purchase a complete wardrobe for me, one that befits mildly cold winters and hot summers, with the remainder of the money you will buy bars of silver.

I will also require you to place an advertisement in the Saturday paper composed of three words, 'Erik is dead'." Erik looked at Nadir as if he might object. "These tasks are simple enough Erik. What would you have me do with the rest of your funds?"

Erik stroked the arm of the chair and replied "consider it payment for your silence and cooperation; I will no longer have a need of French notes." The daroga regarded the man before him silently, taking note of the slight wearing of linen with faintly torn stitching at the shoulders.

He wondered what had transpired in the past month since Christine fled for his meticulous friend to have become so exhausted. "Why do you wish me to print your obituary, Erik?" Erik smiled grimly, "When she left, that night, I told her to return to the lair and bury the engagement ring I gave her along with my body."

Nadir seemed slightly puzzled by this, "what trickery do you mean?" Erik raised his hand to his heart in mock-grief, "you wound me daroga. I mean her no harm. You will bury my coffin, nailed shut, after she leaves her ring.

She could never be happy if she thought me alive and suffering…" he answered almost to himself. His head snapped up as if he had forgotten the man sitting in the seat before him. "I believe I have been more than generous tonight in answering you infinite questions.

I leave in One week's time, I expect you can accomplish everything in that time?" Nadir nodded as Erik excused himself from the room. The daroga thought a moment before silently shaking his head.

**One Month Later**

Erik looked out the window at the faint, hazy line of land amidst the deep blue waves of the Atlantic. After weeks on endless sea the ship headed to America was finally at its destination. The faint shadow of buildings seemed to arise out of nothingness, as if the angry sea had merely spat it out of its depths one day.

The statue of a woman clothed in draping robes beckoned the weary travelers forward with her light of liberty and book of promises, a calm and just expression upon her face. It was perhaps a bit ironic that he was fleeing France only to later be welcomed into the land of freedom by a French statue.

The ship slowed and rocked as it berthed at the New York docks, the foul, cloudy waters churning. A waft of brine and urine filled the air as young boys and men worked to tie the boat to the wooden posts.

After weeks at sea he had finally landed in America, the land of freedom and opportunity; his salvation.

**

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**

**Author's Notes**

For those not familiar with Susan Kay's work, here are some explanations:

-Erik built a palace for the Persian shah and torture rooms/devices for the shah's mother the Khanum.

-When he left he took the shah's cat's gold collar that was encrusted with gems.

-He befriended the chief of police, or daroga, Nadir Khan, a.k.a. the Persian who later followed him to France.

For those not familiar with Gaston Leroux's work, here are some explanations:

-Erik has a small nano-gonal torture chamber with mirrors for walls that replicate an endless desert, slowly driving the prisoner insane until he hangs himself from the only object in the room, a metal tree, or dies from dehydration.

-Erik told Christine to return his ring to his grave in the Lair upon his death.


	2. Architect

Disclaimer: please see the prologue for the disclaimer.

A New Beginning

Chapter 1. Architect

**Erik**

Erik stayed in New York for a few short months, establishing his reputation as an architect amongst the plethora of wealthy upper-crusts that inhabited the cleaner, safer parts of the city. It was as if there was a great divide amongst the wealthy and the poor, an invisible wall that separated the two. It was a fortunate few immigrants that ever made their way from the docks to the inside of the city, a barricade of prejudice and inopportunity served to block those seeking freedom and prosperity from their goal. Erik was amongst the few to ever cross that near impenetrable boundary.

It was his relentless tenacity and his ability to twist the human mind that aided him in his transition into the mostly highly sought architect and engineer. News of his infamousness never crossed the sea, not that it would have mattered if it had. The American aristocrats were starved for Parisian flair, and Erik was the man to deliver that. His aloofness and sometimes cruel manner aided him in blending in by standing out. None dared question the obviousness of the half-mask for fear of angering him.

He was not, however, without his kindness. The opportunity arose to travel to Chicago to design a building, a skyscraper, so named because it was the contractor's dream for it to appear to touch the sky. The pay was meager for the amount of work and thought this building demanded. In the end it was the challenge that swayed his decision. If there was one thing Erik desired more than power it was knowledge.

Erik's reinvention of the ancient Greek technique of reinforced concrete revolutionized the world. Buildings were no longer limited to wood and stone and they posed less of a threat to fire or damage. It was this boost of fame that spread his name like wildfire amongst the wealthy all the way to Virginia. It was in this simple state of mountains, fields, and expanding cities that fate decided to hand Erik a new card.

A letter was sent to Erik, who had adopted the last name of Durmand, detailing a wealthy merchant's plans to build a second home for his family. The invitation arrived crisp and clean, a fine, expensive piece of cream parchment sealed with blue wax stamped with the image of a sparrow in flight. The note itself was short and simple, giving the newly famous architect a brief description of the patron's wishes. It was the simplicity of the language and the distinct lack of pompous arrogance of wealth that saved the letter from fueling the fire in the hearth of Erik's library. He gave it another glance before browsing the neatly scripted lines once more.

_Mr. Durmand,_

_I am contacting you in regards to a business arrangement. I am in need of an architect to design and oversee the building of a second home, a gift for my daughter. She has quite an imagination, one that was too daunting for normal architects. Payment for your talents will be generous with an added bonus if it is completed within one year. I eagerly await your reply,_

_Johnathan Swift_

_Raleigh, North Carolina_

Erik stared into the fire, seeing beyond the crackling flames as he puzzled over the proposition. The daughter's supposed imagination that would send lesser men running intrigued him greatly. At the same time he was wary. His brief affair with the master stonemason and father figure Giovani had ended abruptly and horrifyingly with the death of the architect's daughter, Luciana. Spoiled and naïve Luciana, his first glimpse of tragic beauty. He still blamed himself for her death. And Christine, sweet and beautiful Christine who had forsaken him too in the end. She had trembled with fright and acceptance as she kissed his cheek in the cellars below the grand opera house, as if his face were there to merely torment her. It was because she would give her body and voice to him but not her heart that made Erik let her go.

Selfishly he would not have her if he could not have her completely. He knew that while her body was willing spend the rest of her life with him, her soul would have withered into dust before the year was out. She was a creature of light and happiness, him one of dark and despair. She could have never loved him as he wished her to and so he pushed her away, before he destroyed her too. He was doomed to live alone. Erik glanced at the letter again before letting it fall to the floor by his feet. He removed his mask and ran his fingers over his face as he often did when faced with a difficult or trying decision. Brash he was not, and neither was he foolish. Daughters posed a threat to his sanity.

Weighing the pros of relieving his boredom against the cons of dealing with an irrational young female Erik decided to accept the invitation. He had decided that denial was the best way to deal with this,choosing to believethat the daughter would be young, too young to tempt him, for no young miss is equipped with imagination in this day and age. Imagination is bled out of young women by governesses like illnesses are with leeches. He made a resolution that night, one he was destined to break irrevocably, that he would never again have his judgment clouded by the cold beauty of women. He rose and crossed to his writing desk to find a piece of unused parchment.

**Author's Note**

Sorry this chapter is so late. Between college, family, friends, and a sorority my time is taken up considerably. Instead of churning out a crappy chapter I took my time to write one that I am pretty happy with. It's obvious that Erik would be deeply affected by Christine, a woman who took up many years of his life. I've decided to go with Leroux's version of Christine simply because I think that's how a traditional young woman would have acted in the 1880's. I've never liked her character but I will try to do her justice. She was a big part of Erik's life so she won't disappear completely.

A note of warning, I'm terrible with keeping a plot. If the story starts to take an abrupt turn, let me know. Sometimes I get too close to my writing and I need to back up and think about it. If you spot any major mistakes or inconsistencies please let me know. Also, I'm planning this story to take place around the early 1900's or late 1890's. I'll try to be historically accurate but will probably be taking a lot of artistic licensing to get it the way I envision it.


	3. Daughter

Disclaimer: See the Prologue

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter Two**

**Daughter**

Madison looked out the small window of the carriage that tumbled and bounced down the uneven country road. She was almost unseated as one of the wheels found a particularly large dip in the road. Robert, the head stableman her father employed at the estate, shouted down an apology. She smiled to herself and yelled back to him sarcastically, "Robert, do you think it would be possible if we could hit every bump in the road today? You know how much I love the vigorous jumping about!" He laughed warmly as he maneuvered the horses around the worst of the road.

She craned her head to view more of the magnificent scenery. Winter was slowly giving way to spring, the busiest time of the year for her father. The Swifts had been providing grain to the dozens of farms and merchants in the Raleigh area for more than two generations. Soon the springs in the mountain would begin to thaw and the power source for the large wooden grinding mill would be renewed for another six months. The corn that had been drying out all winter in the large storage bin by the mill could finally be ground. The coarser meal would be sold to farmers as livestock feed while the finer meal would be ground and sold to general stores in the capital and smaller, surrounding cities.

The corners of Madison's mouth turned upwards as they passed an apple orchard, tiny green buds of leaves struggled for sunlight among the winter-roughened tree branches. Soon the orchard would be bursting with color, greens and pinks and whites as the apple blossoms opened and gave off their sweet perfume. The signs of spring were everywhere, in the rapidly warming air and in the beginning riot of colors. It was as if Mother Nature were shaking off an old blanket to reveal a fresh radiance. As the carriage jostled past the edge of the orchard she knew that they were nearly home.

No matter how many times she saw it the large pale blue house always took her breath away. Perhaps the white trim needed a fresh coat of paint and the shutter furthest from the door was a little crooked but it was home. The old plantation house had been built by Madison's great grandfather in late seventeen hundreds. It was built in the Greek revival style, a square two-story building with large Corinthian columns connected to the wrap-around awning; they provided support and shade to the building. A small, plainer building off to the side had been converted from the old slave's quarters to rooms for the summer harvesters.

During her grandfather's time the corn fields had been harvested by slaves. While not particularly kind, neither was her grandfather cruel. After the civil war when many ex-slaves could not find work in the north they returned to the south. Her father now employed over a dozen servants to maintain the house and mills all year, and hired as many harvesters he could to tend the fields in the spring and summer months.

Madison held her heather grey walking skirt to one side as she stepped down from the carriage; freshly polished black leather ankle boots stirring up dust from the gravel drive way. She looked over her shoulder as Robert descended from the driver's seat. "I'll bring your luggage inside in just a moment ma'am." She nodded curtly and murmured a thank you as she began to make her way to the front door. The housekeeper, Ummi, opened the door and waved merrily, her large breasts jostling with every movement. She was a plump, happy black woman who always smiled and never had a cross word been uttered from her lips. Madison could not help but break out into a huge grin as she saw the woman who had cared for her since she was little. After six months at school she was finally home.

**Authors Note**

Sorry this one is so short and took so long. The next chapter will be up much sooner. I had a Biology test and a paper due at the same time. I'll try to get the next one out faster. Please, no hate mail or flames after reading this. I hate apologizing for being white and living in the south. Slavery happened and I had nothing to do with it. Neither did my ancestors for that matter, and I have the census records to prove it. Most of the servants will be black simply to be as historically accurate as possible. If I screw something up let me know and I'll fix it. By the way, the name Ummi means mother, and that will have some significance later on in the story. On a side note I was a little disappointed nobody caught the reference to Jonathan Swift.


	4. Home

Disclaimer: Please see the prologue.

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 3**

**Home**

Madison braced herself against the heavy oak bed post as the housekeeper, Ummi, tightened her stays. "Is my father still going on about that new house he wants to build?" Madison asked between pulls.

Ummi tsked at the question before giving the corset one last good tug, tying the laces as she replied, "I don't pry and it certainly is none of my never mind what Mr. Swift does or does not do. I mind my own business, I do. But if you ask me he is only asking for trouble with those fancy architects. What's he gonna do with another big fancy house anyways? But it's none of my never mind and I'm not gonna say anything." Madison smiled at the woman as she was laced and buttoned into her clothes.

Ummi had always been more than the housekeeper to Madison. She had been working in the Swift household ever since she was old enough to work as a scullery maid. Her mother had been the housekeeper at that time, keeping the house in order and the workers working. Ummi had quickly risen in the ranks as she grew older, eventually taking over her mother's role in the household when she grew too old to work the long days.

When Madison's mother had died Ummi took over the role. She had governesses and tutors, but Ummi was the person she went to when she scraped her knee while attempting to climb the large oak by her bedroom window, or when she and her father argued. She smoothed the fabric of the forest green walking skirt over her hips and tucked her white blouse further in.

The deep green of the fabric offset her hazel eyes, making tiny flecks of green and gold come alive. Picking up a brown velvet hair ribbon from the white vanity she pulled her long, dark blonde hair back from her face. It was a shade between blonde and brown which brightened in the sun and darkened in candlelight and had a slight wave that added fullness to her face.

She was fair of face and figure, but no great beauty. Her hips were too full and her nose was slightly too sharp. Her most redeeming feature was her smile, which when freely given lit up her eyes and softened her face.

A few tendrils of hair that were too short to be tied back framed her face. She sat before the mirror studying her profile before making a face. Ummi caught this and shook her head, "are you a young lady or still a young miss?" the woman asked in a chiding voice.

Madison smiled bashfully into the mirror at the woman who was so much more than a housekeeper or a maid servant.

**A Few Moments Later**

Madison wandered down the main downstairs corridor trailing one hand against the brightly decorated cloth covered walls while the other held a book of poems against her hip. She was lost in thought as she made her way to the library, one of the few rooms she ever actually spent any large amount of time in.

The sun was brightly shining through the freshly cleaned windows, illuminating the oak flooring and the few pieces of furniture that occupied the long hallway. She was lost in thought as she passed the dining room and reached her hand to the ornately decorated brass doorknob which opened one of the large French doors that led to the library.

Her skirt rustled about her ankles as she closed the door behind her and crossed to one of the extensive bookshelves. She pulled book upon book from the shelves, Shakespeare and Homer, romantic novels by Jane Austen and Mary Shelley's dark novella Frankenstein. She devoured the written word, her passion fed at last during this respite from her schooling.

Madame Trousseau's Finishing School for Young Ladies was of the mind that a young woman's time was better spent embroidering handkerchiefs and learning the delicate art of being a proper hostess than reading and filling one's head with silly ideas of justice and equality.

According to Madame Trousseau, who was not even French, the only books a woman needed to study were Shakespeare and a few choice poet's works. Even then one was limited to the comedies and lighter fare, save Romeo and Juliet; tragedies such as Macbeth or Hamlet were unsuitable reading material for a gently bred woman, they might upset her disposition or offend her senses.

Madison had been nearly bored to tears. Every year she pleaded with her father that she would be much happier at home and every year he denied her wish and packed her off to the capital in order to become a proper young woman. She had long outgrown private tutors and governesses being nearly nineteen years of age. She sighed happily as she studied the heavy stack in her arms.

Sitting in one of the comfortably overstuffed chairs by the windows she looked through the pile of books and selected Utopia, by Thomas More. She placed the other books on the small table beside the chair and opened the small leather tome.

**That Evening**

Madison stretched lazily in the large reading chair. She had indulged herself divinely, reading the day away as the sun arced over the house and disappeared beyond the horizon. She had finished Utopia and moved on to a collection of poetry, the book she had carried to the library.

Midway through one of John Keats' poems she noticed that she was straining to read the words. The sun had set and she would need to light a candle if she wanted to continue.

Her stomach growled to remind her that she had been too enraptured in her novel to take the noon meal. Replacing the novel she had finished and the poetry book in the book shelf she made her way to the kitchen to see what cook had made for supper.

**Author's Note**

This chapter just seemed to pour out of me. I hope it makes up for the last one as it is almost twice the length. Erik will be much tougher to write. I'm going to be extremely busy this month so please be patient with me. I'm preparing for exams, helping plan a formal, and moving so things are going to be hectic.


	5. Reasons

Disclaimer: Please see the prologue

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 4**

**Reasons**

Spring had given way to summer in one blistering hot day. The few short weeks of calm warmth and sunny patches in the neighbor's apple orchard seemed to immediately turn to a blanket of muggy heat.

Awakening in the morning was perhaps the worst part of the day. Nights were considerably cooler and much more comfortable. The oppressive heat which seemed to begin as soon as the sun had risen did not afford one with the comfort of lounging in bed.

Madison had taken to sleeping late into the afternoon and staying up till dawn. She had plenty to occupy her time. She read in great long bouts, hours at a time until she became restless and the printed word could not seem to hold her attention any longer. Then she would lie outside in the grass and listen to the rhythm of nature as she gazed at the stars.

The crickets would chirp and the dozen or so bats that lived in the attic would swoop out of the shuttered window to circle the trees and feast upon insects. The air was comfortable; the oppressing blanket of heat and humidity seemed to vanish when the moon rose.

She traced the constellations with her fingers and attempted to recall the great Greek and Roman myths of how the stars were born.

Sometimes, when neither novel nor constellation could keep her mind occupied she painted. Canvases turned to landscapes where the rays of the sun lightened the sky and cast a rosy golden hue over the land as it rose. Always she painted nature, the apple orchard in bloom and the mountain spring that powered the large mills.

When the corn fields ripened she would paint them too, rows and rows of rich yellow. Her paintings would never be masterpieces, she was talented but unrefined.

There was a sense of rawness to her work, as if a piece of her soul had been ripped from her and placed in the drawing. Art was much too passionate a past time for her, a hobby she could only practice for so long before the mere sight of a brush or pigment sickened her.

She was like water, flowing quickly and violently over rocks and branches, never stopping for long because still waters stale quickly. Life thrived in her, yet it seemed as if she had no way of controlling it.

As Madison was reading one night by lamplight her attention began to wander. Her father had said something at dinner, a brief comment made in passing that she soon pushed to the back of her mind as it made no sense at the time that is was spoken.

When she asked him how everything was faring in the business he mumbled a quick retort before softly saying "and that fellow still has not arrived…" almost as if it was a thought he had not meant to share that had escaped his lips.

She could not help but wonder on it now as she rested comfortably in bed, the unfinished novel cast aside.

**The Next Evening**

Madison sat in the chair to her father's right at the dinning table, smoothing the soft blue linen skirt of her dining dress on her thighs.

Cook had prepared a delectable meal of herb roasted chicken, cold cuts from the previous dinner's ham accompanied by an array of cheeses, an assortment of fresh, crisp vegetables, and fluffy rolls. If it was not an expensive meal neither swift noticed, her father tucking into his chicken whole-heartedly.

She sipped the fine white wine that accompanied the meal as she thought of how to best broach the subject of the new house to her father, finally decided that the direct approach was often the best.

"Father, what ever became of you plans to build that second home you mentioned while I was away?"

Jonathan raised his eyes from his plate, his bushy eyebrows rising a bit before he rested his fork against the china, the piece of chicken he had been about to consume dangling haphazardly from the prongs, "I had hoped to surprise you, but it seems I never could keep a secret from you for long. You get your stubborn curiosity from you mother you know…"

Madison smiled softly, "and every time I broach the subject you attempt to distract me. Out with it, old man."

"You remember how you used to draw your dream house, oh you talked non stop about it; you created such fantastical, impossible rooms." He paused a moment to gather his thoughts, carefully phrasing his wording.

"I've decided to hire an architect to help you design and build it," he stopped to sit up properly in his chair, "and once it is completed your things will be moved and you may have your own home."

She blinked a moment, giving herself time to go over her father's words and to comprehend all possible meanings. "But I'm quite comfortable here, father," she replied, "why should I ever wish to leave you?"

At this his face flushed slightly and he spoke to her in a calm but firm voice, "you will need your own home to be mistress of when you are wed. It will not be far from here, the patch of land by the Applegate's orchards will be the perfect spot, I believe."

She stared at him in disbelief, placing the crystal wine glass on the table before she dropped it. "But father, I do not wish to be married. I am happy here, with you."

He shook his head remorsefully, "Why do you think that I have been adamant that you attend finishing school these last few years? No, no, my mind is quite made up. The architect will be arriving in a few weeks and when the house is completed you will be wed. I care not to whom, pick any lad you admire."

Her chin dimpled as she pursed her lips in a fine line of emotion, eyes misting. She refused to cry the tears of frustration and disbelief that she felt, her stubbornness not permitting any sign of female weakness.

It was so unexpected in a liberal man such as her father. Their family was not entitled or of a long noble lineage, merely farmers who turned quite a profit. The social influences of England and France still presided in America, though less profoundly or directly.

"I refuse," she stated simply, assured that she could convince her father is she were unbending enough.

He sighed, the furrows in his forehead sharpening as his brows drew together in a frown, "you can not refuse, darling. Put quite bluntly I am kicking you out of my house. You will be married, end of discussion."

Her chest heaved in held back anger and turmoil, her eyes pleading. He would have none of it and simply returned his attention to the lovely meal that now seemed less appealing. She pulled the cloth napkin from her lap and placed it on the table beside her plate.

"Please excuse me, father, I find that I no longer have an appetite." She rose from her chair before he could utter a reply and fled the room, skirts swishing as she hurried out the room and down the hall so that he could not see her tears.

**Author's Note**

Things are getting hectic since I only have two and a half weeks of school left. My professors are starting to pile on the work and papers. The next chapter may take longer to get out to you guys for this reason. I hope the father doesn't appear harsh or uncaring, he has his reasons which will be revealed later on. Madison and Erik will meet in the next chapter. If you see any major typos or something doesn't fit please let me know. Reviews are highly appreciated, cookies to everyone who has so far reviewed.


	6. Meeting

Disclaimer: Please see the prologue

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 5**

**Meeting**

Her father was like a giant boulder on this subject of marriage, a gargantuan obstacle that held steadfast and dense. He refused to listen to her pleas, her short bursts of anger and her fits of melancholy.

She had decided that since none of her words could move him to pity he would receive no more questions or answers, hellos or goodbyes, not a single phrase, word, or letter. All in all she simply decided to never speak to him again for as long as she lived, or until he finally came to his senses.

When asked at dinner to pass the salt she acted as if he had never uttered a word, she looked past him when he walked by her in the hallway and she turned her cheek when he attempted to kiss her goodnight.

He was saddened by this but refused to give in to her childish behavior. Madison passed the days by keeping herself busy, refusing to dwell on this particular dilemma. She read and painted, went horseback riding through the edge of the mountain's forest, anything so she would not have to think of her impending nuptials.

There were no concrete reasons for her skittishness about wedded bliss, merely a heavy dread that hung in the pit of her stomach. A husband would control her life and her body, if not her mind. It was not fair, many men remained happy bachelors and yet it was socially unacceptable for a woman to remain unmarried.

She feared her days of freedom and independence would end with marriage. A husband led to children and she was still unsure if she could risk it. Women often died in childbirth, her mother one of them.

The raging silence between father and daughter had gone on for two weeks when the inevitable happened. A storm had been rolling in from the north, a battering of torrential rains, booming thunder and streaks of angry lightning.

The storm lasted late into the night, a foreshadowing of irreparable change. It was still raining in the early hours of the morning when he arrived, an ominous shadow atop a great black stallion. The Arabian whinnied as a bolt of lighting flashed in the distance, the booming thunder following closely behind.

The horse reared back and pounded the earth as he returned, his rider gripping the reins. Erik led him forward, rain dripping rivers off his sodden hat and onto his cape.

The old manservant rose from his bed in a great rush as a great and fierce banging resonated through the halls to the small room off of the entryway where he slept. At first the old servant believed that the strong winds had blown the great entry door open. He opened the door as another banging thundered through the house.

_

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**Madison**

Madison sat in the library, one of her favorite novels perched open in her lap as she surveyed the night sky. Summer storms were rare but fierce in the south, providing the much needed relief from the hot muggy days.

A bolt of lightning flashed by the window, soon followed by a horses' cry. This in itself was odd because the sound was not carried from the direction of the stables. She rose from her seat to see out the large library window.

Craning her head she could just barely see the front of the house, another flash of lighting revealed the dark shape of a rider upon a great beast of a horse. The rider dismounted and walked towards the door.

Madison made her way quickly down the hall towards the front. Her corset had been bothering her earlier in the evening and as she was the only one awake at such hours of the night she had opted to be comfortable in a soft white muslin night dress and wrapper. The thin overcoat of the wrapper provided some amount of modesty, covering the thin material of her night shift.

The fabric rustled around her ankles, she hurried to the balcony that led to the front stairs as a fist banged loudly upon the giant oak door. Her dark blonde hair fluttered around her face, forgotten as the unruly locks escaped the single plait down her back.

She reached the end of the hallway in time to see the old manservant Brian open the door. Rain darkened the marble entryway as the storm gusted in as the rider, swathed in darkness, stepped over the threshold. In a bustle of activity the butler hurried to pull the door shut as it fought against the winds.

Madison could hear snippets of their short conversation, gathering that the stranger had asked directions in town and begun his way before the storm hit.

She knew there was little in the way of housing or shelter between here and town and that he had been forced to continue his journey in the pelting rain. The old manservant assured him that the master would not mind him staying the night and left to stable his horse.

She watched him as he surveyed the house, he was tall and broad shouldered, his damp clothing hugging his figure.

The stranger removed his hat, giving her full view of the rest of his features. She was curious as she examined him. A white half-mask hid most of his face, leaving only a teasing glimpse at his sensuous mouth and sharp jaw line. His dark hair was mussed from the wind, an effect that did little to dampen his otherworldliness.

"Traveler, to which house is your destination?" He jerked his head up in surprise to look at her, amber cats-eyes meeting soft-green hazel ones.

_

* * *

_

**Erik**

Christine. That was his first thought. As he looked at the vision above him his weary eyes sharpened. No, not Christine. The eyes and hair were different, her face not as poetic and her figure not as small or slender. He stared at her a moment, entranced, her hair seemed to halo around her face, soft waves escaping their confinement.

The dim light provided just enough to see soft arms that rested against the banister or the stairway, to see the curve of her neck that disappeared into the fine white fabric, and just enough to see the soft swell of full breasts and hips through the thin material.

The fabric of her night shift rose and fell with the steady rhythm of her breathing. Erik noticed her studying him, her gaze wandering up and down his torso, falling on the mask in silent questioning.

She was a vision of lovely womanhood, a sharp reminder of what he could never have. Their eyes locked again, but this time his were guarded.

_

* * *

_

**Madison**

Madison regarded him thoughtfully, entranced and at odds. He brought a curious fluttering to her stomach accompanied by a delicious warmth to her cheeks. He was a striking figure, and when he answered she hardly heard the words for she was so wrapped up in his lovely voice. She shook her head free of the cotton that must surely have replaced her brain as she asked "I beg your pardon?"

"I am seeking the Swift household, mademoiselle. Do you know of its location?"

The fluttering in her stomach turned heavily, the flush fading from her cheeks to be replaced by a vague feeling of dread. "This is the Swift household, my father is Jonathan Swift. But for what purpose have you come here?"

"I am an architect and designer, traveling here at the direction of your father."

The butterflies had turned to rock. She stared at him in wonderment and despair. Her hands clenched at the banister. Brian opened the doors and stared at the scene before him. "I see you've met the young miss, then. This way sir and I'll have you settled in for the night."

Madison gave a huff of disapproval and one last withering looks as she turned abruptly and stormed down the corridor to her bedchamber.

The manservant seemed puzzled and apologized to Erik as he led him upstairs to a guest chamber, "don't mind the young miss, sir. She has not been acting herself lately. Here's your room, sir, I'll have cook send a breakfast tray up at nine. If that's all sir?" Erik nodded his ascent and closed the bedroom door behind him. He would never understand women.

**Author's Note**

This chapter was so exciting and nerve wrecking to write. Erik and Madison have finally met, too bad it couldn't be love at first sight. I dare say she's inclined to hate him in the beginning. In my mind that's the best kind of love story, where the hero and heroine are stupid till the end and take forever to fall in love. Thanks to everyone for the reviews so far, I look forward to hearing what you guys think about this chapter.


	7. War

Disclaimer: Please see the prologue

**A New Beginning**

**Ch. 6**

**War**

The architect had been with them for a week, a strange man to be sure. He took his meals in his room as often as possible, conversing with someone only when forced to.

Her father had informed the man that she would be more than happy to accompany him to view the piece of property in which the house was to be built on. Neither Madison nor the architect was looking forward to this unavoidable endeavor.

The day of the guided tour of her father's property dawned bright and hot. The southern summer had nearly reached it's zenith in late-July and the maturing fields would need to be harvested just as the weather began to cool in September. The gypsies that traveled near the town would arrive in another month. Her father often employed the young men as harvesters to aide their few able-bodied servants.

A droplet of sweat trickled from the crown of Madison's upswept hair to pool between her breasts. Her cotton chemise was plastered to her skin under her lightweight linen dress. She had forgone a corset because of the unbearable, blistering summer.

Her boots crunched in the dry grass as they slowly made their way across the plain between the house and the corn fields. They headed towards the neighboring property, a large and prosperous apple orchard owned and farmed by the MacIntires.

Madison eyed the architect warily out of the corner of her eye, looking him up and down. He was garbed in the same clothing he always wore, black linen pants and a white linen shirt. She noticed that his face and collar were damp from his perspiration and the red, irritated patch of skin that bordered the half-mask he never removed. He felt her gaze upon him and turned to catch her eyes.

Amber bored into hazel as they locked gazes. They stared each other down, neither uttering a word as they competed for dominance. "You must be _very_ hot wearing that leather mask constantly in this heat," Madison goaded.

He did not blink or show any sign of emotion as his gaze remained cool and distant. "It's such a pity that women must wear so _many_ stifling layers of cloth, especially in the summer. You must be very uncomfortable," he replied. A twitch of anger flashed across her face as her brow tightened and her eyes narrowed slightly.

Madison broke their locked gaze as she continued her stomping across the field. He knew that he had irritated her by the tightness of her shoulders and the forcefulness of her gait.

His eyes traveled down her figure to settle on her derriere. It swayed deliciously as she walked, a fact she was must likely unaware of. She seemed to be a naturally sensual creature which was made more interesting by her unawareness.

Erik smiled slightly to himself as he followed behind her, his gaze never lingering from her swaying hips. She stopped suddenly after a distance, placed her hands on her hips and turned around to face him. "This is it," Madison stated sourly as she eyed the piece of land her father had gifted her with.

Looking at that stretch of land made the whole ordeal absolute, as if her never seeing the patch of grass and trees her wedding gift would soon be built on made it less real to her. There was no denying it now; as soon as the house was constructed her father would expect her to begin planning her nuptials.

As the sun continued to rise and sweat dampened her brow Madison narrowed her eyes and decided that she would find a way to counteract her father's plans. She swore to herself on that grassy knoll that she would never be married. "I will find a way," she murmured to herself, "simply because I must."

Erik regarded her warily, barely catching the softly muttered phrase. She would be trouble, that much he could tell. She was temptation personified with a fire that burned inside her, a passion that could consume him as well as destroy him if he was not on his guard. But he was always on his guard, and just as she had sworn to resist he swore to himself that he would persevere.

And so thewar between two began.

* * *

Author's Note

Sorry that this is so short for being so late. It was a very important chapter and between moving and getting a job I waited until I was happy with it. I think it's a good start for Erik and Madison's little feud. If you see any out of character-ness or something reads weirdly please let me know along with any suggestions. I'm always happy for a swift kick in the butt to keep me on track. Thanks again for everyone's reviews!


	8. Healing

Disclaimer: Please see the prologue.

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 7**

**Healing**

Erik spent the next afternoon calmly surveying the Swift's plantation house. It was unremarkable but well built, ideal for the hot summers. Large windows provided ventilation and illumination with thick white curtains that blocked some of the day's heat.

The tall ionic columns supported the roof while providing ample shade for a place to sit on the balcony during the cooler hours of the day. He peered upwards at the most interesting part of the building, a small cube of windows set in the direct middle of the roof. While not unheard of he hardly expected to find a solarium in an American household.

He re-entered through a servant's side entrance, passing quickly through the halls as he further explored the house. It was a straight-forward and simple design resembling the man who owned it. Erik explored the rooms one by one, passing through the dining room to the library, through one salon and then another.

A maid polishing the staircase told him where to find Mr. Swift, "the master will be in his study at this hour of the day, sir," and pointed him in the right direction.

He quieted his steps as he heard arguing voices from the crack in the study doorway.

"You simply cannot be serious father, would you really sell your only daughter off to the highest bidder? Am I just a slab of meat then, to be flung at the first buyer?"

"Madison, you know that I love you with all my heart and that I would never do anything to put you in harms way."

"And yet you still insist that I give up my life, my freedom to some perfect stranger?" Her voice was strained in anger as she attempted to refrain from yelling.

"You are free to choose whichever lad you fancy, poppet. Surely you know that other fathers would not be so thoughtful."

Erik caught a glimpse of her as she paced before the door. "After everything…" she paused to gather her thoughts and began anew, "after everything that has happened I cannot believe that you would still be selfish enough to make me do this." Her voice wavered as she continued, "After everything you would be so cruel?"

A note of sadness seeped into her father's voice as he answered, "Not cruel, not selfish. I want only the best for you. I cannot protect you forever, Madison, I will leave this world one day. It would be an ordeal for you to run a plantation by yourself. Women simply do no have the same privileges that men do. I have educated you as no other father would."

"You had the finest tutors and governesses to teach you science, mathematics, history, and languages. It would not be enough, you will need a husband to help you. Surely you can see why I have done what I did?"

Madison wiped the dampness from her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt as her father rose from his chair to embrace her. She cried into his shirt as his strong arms embraced her, cried out years of frustration and hurt in one bout of healing and when she was done he stroked her hair and murmured words of comfort.

She pulled back from his hold to look him in the eye. "I will still make the architect's time here is unbearable."

Jonathan laughed at this as he rubbed circles in her arms, "I am sure you will, my sweet, of that I have little doubt. But somehow I think this fellow can take your abuse. I only hope he pushes back and gives you a taste of your own wicked medicine. Do you know how much money you have cost me thus far? He is the fourth I have had to hire, and you did not even meet the first three. Try not to run this one off, dearest."

She laughed a little at this before he pulled her closer again trying to heal the hurt he had been unable to stop the five years earlier.

Erik backed away from the study door lest he be caught as the two exited. He would need to mull over this new information, replay the conversation again and again until he had extracted every meaning and nuance.

**Author's Note**

Sorry again this took so long. After some soul-searching and writers block the spring of inspiration swelled up again. I know, not a lot of action, but trust me this is going to be an important chapter. The next chapter will have more action between Erik and Madison, I swear.


	9. Discovery

Disclaimer: Please see the prologue.

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 8**

**Discovery**

**_Madison's POV_**

Madison entered the stable slowly taking her time to savor the smell of the sweet hay, sharp manure, and clean sweat. It was an earthy, calming place that grounded her, and allowed her to let down her walls for a quick respite.

She visited the horses routinely, always pausing to give a quick scratch on the ear or rub on the nose to any creature that needed a little bit of comforting. Madison smiled as one gelding followed her from one side of his pen to the next in an attempt to receive more attention.

Soft murmurs pulled her thoughts away from the needy horse to the far end of the stable. A strong back covered in soft white fabric came into view as she inched her way forward.

None of the servants ever wore white, favoring a soft grey instead. White was a luxury, a color entirely too hard to keep clean when one worked hard all day. Broad shoulders that curved into a strong neck kissed with dark hair revealed who had intruded into her place of solitude, the architect.

She watched the muscles in his back stretch as the figure in the last pen moved to pull the ebony horse closer. He fondly stroked the creature's nose, whispering seductively into the mare's ear.

Madison's eyes roamed his figure. He was tall and lean, wiry with just a hint of finely toned muscle under the linen shirt. His chest was broad and narrowed slightly at the waist before tapering into slim hips.

Looking at him made her feel strange, her face flushed and her stomach tightened as the hairs on her arms stood up in goose bumps despite the remaining heat of the day.

The setting sun was visible through the gate at the end of the barn.

Golden rays of the dying sun cast their last glow on the Earth as the giant orb sank slowly into the horizon. The barn was positioned in such a way that the stables were lit at the moment of sunrise until the last second of sunset.

The architect stood just so in the fading light so that he was illuminated from the side, his white shirt and pale skin glowing golden as if he burned with an inner light. It softened what she could see of the white mask, blending it into his face until it became an extension of the flesh.

**_Erik's POV_**

He knew she was there, studying him as he soothed the mare.

Erik continued to stroke the horse's neck while he listened to the young woman's soft breathing. He noticed the slight hitch when he rolled his shoulders back, heightened his already tall frame and turned away from her so that she could see how broad his chest really was.

He smiled devilishly before looking over his shoulder at her as if he had just noticed her arrival. Erik saw how her hand rested absently on the dappled gelding's nose, the forgotten horse whinnying softly trying to win her attention.

His eyes slowly roamed her figure before coming back to rest at her flustered face. His smile grew wicked, the ends turning up at an angle, as he let her know that he knew she had been watching him.

Erik's chest rose and fell with silent laughter, the rumbling, honeyed sound barely escaping his throat. She was quite lovely with her face flushed from embarrassment and her eyes sparkling with unconcealed loathing.

It was such a pity that she had chosen to hate him, although he of all people knew how thin the line between love and hate is. His laughter grew into quick bursts of mirth as she turned and fled the stable, feet planting angrily into the earth as she stormed her way up to the main house.

He watched her retreating form, his eyebrows knitting together in thought and confusion. Why had he thought of love? The word resounded in his head and brought forth memories of his beloved Christine, the way her hair curled around her face and her eyes always betrayed her mood.

He thought of his love, nay, his obsession with the blonde-haired beauty and the way that even she had deserted him in the end for her perfect lover and of the Vicomte de Chagny, the man who had wooed away his prize.

He found he could not despise the man as much as he wanted to, as much as he needed to. In the end Christine had trembled while she kissed him, afraid that he would ask for more and so he had let her go. Her eyes had always been cruel in their fear and sadness, emotions she felt only when she thought of him in those last few weeks.

Erik shook his head to clear it of the cobwebs of old memories, memories he should have pushed to the last crevice of his mind, patted the sweet-tempered mare one last time on her nose and exited the stables. The daughter would be trouble, nothing he could not handle but trouble indeed yet he found he could not keep his eyes from her.

Knowing he should keep his distance from the girl whenever possible and knowing that he could not tormented him. Why must the angel in Hell, the loathsome gargoyle always yearn for beauty he could never have?

**_Author's Note_**

You have a longer chapter now and much more Madison/Erik interaction, even though they never once said anything to the other in this chapter. Actions speak louder than words, right? Tell me if you loved it, hated it, or found a mistake.

**_Updated Note_**

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, especially to those that pointed out mistakes. Everything has been fixed and I've reworded a few things at the bottom to read more easily. Typical can't see the trees for the forest… and it was two A.M. when I finished with out proof-reading again. Here's hoping that the next chapter comes out quicker.

**_P.S._** If you have any ideas for crazy rooms please send me a line. I have some planned but I'd love to hear from you guys too.


	10. Parlor

Disclaimer: Please see the Prologue.

A New Beginning

Chapter 9

Parlor

It was suitable that the first evening they were to sit together to examine blueprints and sketches began as dreary as it ended. Rain pelted the windows in clumps, thwack, thwack, thwack, as the wind whistled through the old oak tree just outside the library window.

Madison waited impatiently as the architect organized paper, ink, and candles. The dark, pendulous clouds blocked out all traces of the sun making candlelight necessary this early in the evening.

She watched him as he struck the match against the table, a yellow flame bursting to life for a few short seconds; he lit the candles one-by-one, three in all so that there were no shadows on the table's surface.

It was such an intimate thing to watch, the graceful turn of his wrist as he shook the match to distinguish it. She followed the line of his arm up his shoulder until her gaze settled on the unmasked portion of his face.

He eyed her warily before reaching for the first parchment, unrolling it carefully. She turned her attention to the drawing, studying it intently.

Overall the rudimentary drawing was ornate, flowery, and completely wrong for Madison.

She studied it anyways, looked at the dimensions and pillars. There were two stories containing four bedrooms, three water closets, two dining rooms, the obligatory kitchen, one solarium, three parlors, and one pathetically small library.

After she was sure that she had looked over every inch of the design she raised her eyes to his, "What on Earth would I do with three parlors? You really must be joking."

He looked at her with curiosity.

She continued, "I know that I have avoided you as if you carry the plague, but really, you must have learned something of me by now. You simply cannot be dense enough to believe that this ostentatious house would suit me."

He studied her openly, eyes widening slightly with mirth, the corner of his mouth rising in mischief, "is that so…" he murmured gravelly.

She paused, straightening her back as she looked away uncomfortably. Madison had never really noticed his voice before, the thick French accent magnified by his rich tenor voice. It had a way of lowering inhibitions, making her stomach flip and things much lower twitch. A slight blush stained her cheeks as they locked eyes.

She had never really studied him before, excluding quick, stolen glances, yet she found herself lost in his eyes. Madison decided that they were the color of ripe wheat and warm gold with just the barest flecks of brown and green, cat's eyes that no human should ever posses. They unsettled and amazed her as she compared them to her own hazel eyes.

His head lowered slightly as if to grant her a better view, like a proud king obliging a peasant with one last look at his magnificent presence before the commoner was dismissed. Madison noticed how close their knees had drifted towards each other and raised her head slightly as she chewed her bottom lip in absent contemplation.

"It won't do at all?" he asked smoothly. She startled, eyes snapping up to his eyes from where they had drifted to his plush mouth. "What?" She asked absentmindedly. "You were saying that these plans won't do."

She mistook the mirth in his eyes and voice as secret ridicule and pursed her lips together. "No," she said while leaning away from him, "it won't." Madison pushed her chair back from the desk and rose to her feet haughtily, "I suggest, Architect, that you begin by turning one of the larger parlors into a better library, that is unless you find women all together too incompetent to appreciate the written word?"

Erik kept his face under control as he fumed at her abrupt mood swing and condescending tone, "Mademoiselle, it has been my observation that most young females would more enjoy the company of seamstresses and gossips than philosophers and poet."

Madison seethed, infuriated that he would assume her to be like the other girls at finishing school, girls that would rather embroider roses and talk about the latest young man than discuss more worthwhile topics such as Shakespeare or the effects of the late President Grant's effect on New York.

"You are mistaken, sir" she ground out between clenched teeth. Taking calming breaths she unclenched her fists and decided against smashing his nose with her fist like the stableman Robert had taught her. After she had collected herself she continued coolly, "Perhaps we should continue another day? I suddenly find my self sick to the stomach. It must have been something I ate." Madison smiled sweetly.

"Perhaps that would be wise. Tomorrow after the evening meal then, I trust that your constitution will have improved by then?" Erik asked calmly. Madison's sweet smile was ruined by her clenched jaw as she bid him goodnight and exited the room in a swish of angry skirts.

He watched her leave, both delighted and wary of her obvious temper. His first assumption that she would be a simpering miss had been summarily dismissed and proven time and time again as she sparred with him verbally. He leaned back in his chair as he lazily looked at the rough sketches from a previous job and wondered how upset she would be if she found out that he had not even bothered to create a new design in the two weeks that he had resided here.

Erik smiled lazily as he pictured her angry countenance. She was truly at her most beautiful when she was infuriated. Luckily for him it was an often occurrence.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Author's Note

I would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone that is still reading and reviewing and to everyone that has added my story onto their favorites/update reminder list. This story is almost half-way there, the furthest I have ever gotten in a fan fiction that I post on-line. So terribly sorry that it took so long, school's been a bitch. Between papers, art projects, assignments, tests, and running around for my sorority finding an hour to myself has been very hard.

It's also going to take some time since I research things and try to keep it as historically accurate as possible. Some interesting things I learned about matches while preparing for this chapter:

1. Matches were invented in 1827 by John Walker

2. It wasn't until 1855 until they were widely used because they were expensive and toxic (white phosphorous). This changed when Johan Edvard re-vamped the formula using red phosphorous instead making it safe.

3. The matchbook was created in 1889 by Joshua Pusey who later sold his patent to the Diamond Match Company for $4,000.00


	11. Emotions

**Disclaimer: Please see the prologue**

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 10**

**Feelings**

Erik peered out the bedroom window onto the front lawn. From this vantage point he was able to see the daughter, Madison, as she conversed with a young man, her hands moving freely as she talked in a manner that suggested familiarity. He noticed a slight twinge of jealousy as he watched her amble towards the apple orchard with the boy.

It was not that he had any emotions about the girl, he half-heartedly convinced himself, and it was just that seeing her with that boy had stirred buried memories of his beloved Christine, memories that should remain buried.

He turned from the window as they disappeared into the trees and were lost from his sight. Erik clenched his hands into fists against his side as his eye caught his reflection in the small round mirror by the washbasin.

* * *

Madison walked with James, the only son of the farmer who owned the neighboring orchard. She noticed the trees and their ripening fruit, "you'll be very busy soon, James, the apples are growing so quickly this year." The young man looked at the trees and then back at her, "we'll have a good haul this year; we only had to cull twenty trees, much better than last year." Madison nodded absentmindedly.

James gripped her elbow and turned her to face him, stopping her in her tracks, "what is the matter, Madison? I don't think I've ever seen you this preoccupied before." She looked at him a moment before sighing in exasperation, "it's my father." James' face took a look of concern, "he isn't ill I hope." She shook her head and sighed deeply again. "Two sighs in one afternoon, surely things cannot be that bad," he said while smiling sympathetically.

A look of sorrow flashed across her face as she seated herself under the shade of an apple tree and explained, "It's just that my father is forcing me to get married. Oh, don't look at me like that, James, I knew that I would have to eventually; I just didn't think that it would be so soon. It sounds silly, I know, but I had always thought that I would marry for love. And now it looks as if I won't have that chance."

James, silent, sat beside her. "It could be worse," he stated after a few moments of companioned silence, "he could have arranged it for you without your consent." Madison looked at her childhood friend in complete horror, "I had never thought of that."

Madison turned her head down to watch the sun glisten through the leaves in dancing patterns on the grass. James studied her profile, noticing the dance of light across the bridge of her nose and the few freckles that adorned her cheeks and felt a tiny fluttering in his chest. His palms began to sweat and a small lump formed in his throat as he said barely above a whisper, "you could always marry me, you know, if no one else suited you."

Madison stared at him in silence for a moment before grinning and shoving his arm, "you almost had me for a moment, James, I nearly believed that you were serious." He laughed nervously to cover his embarrassment and looked away. "So what are you going to do?" he asked. She studied her boots and let out another sigh, "I have no idea."

* * *

It was late into the evening when Madison returned home. She climbed the stairs to her bedroom wearily, pulling apart the ribbon that held back her hair. She had just grasped the knob to her chamber when the architect opened his door across the hallway.

Turning at the sound her gaze locked with his and an uncomfortable silence passed between them. "Just returning home?" he asked. She drew herself taller, straightening her back, "not that it is any of your concern, but yes, I am just now getting in. You look as if you're dressed to go out. Are you leaving?"

He smiled lazily, "not that it is any of your concern, but yes, I am going out." Madison glared at his back as he descended the staircase and exited through the front door.

Madison entered her room and began to undress. She unbuttoned the row of tiny buttons at her side and pulled the lavender dress over her head. Pausing in thought she let her mind wander to the events of the day but was interrupted by a knocking on her door. "Who is it?" she called out. "It's just me, wanted to see if you needed help undressing for the night," Ummi called through the door. Madison called for her to enter and sat upon the vanity chair as the woman began to unlace her corset.

Lost in thought and unaware Madison missed Ummi's question. "Child, what is bothering you so much?" the housekeeper asked in a chiding tone of voice. Madison looked away from the mirror and smiled grimly, "I can't stop thinking of my having to marry so soon, and that architect that father found." Ummi's eyes twinkled mischeiously, "is there some reason you talk about that man in the same breath that you talk about gettin' married?" Madison's eyes widened and a very faint blush bloomed in her cheeks, "of course there isn't."

Ummi chuckled at this contradicting response and reached for the silver brush that lay on the vanity. "Not that it's any of my business, but if you don't mind me saying so I've seen the way he looks at you when you're lookin' somewhere else. I also seen the way you look at him when he's lookin' somewhere else. You sure there ain't nothing on your mind concerning him?"

Madison glared firmly in the mirror at the woman before giving up her pretense of an angry countenance , "he's just so strange. Part of me wants him gone immediately, but a small part also wants him to stay so that I can unravel this enigma. I don't know what to think anymore."

"Well," Ummi began, "he certainly is charming, and what ain't hidden by that mask is handsome enough. Still, I can't help but wonder what he's hidin' underneath it. It ain't right walkin' around with half your face covered up."

Madison smoothed a lock of hair behind her ear as Ummi finished brushing out the tangles, "I'd almost forgotten about it," her voice trailing off as if in deep thought, "maybe he has a scar, from a duel or something…" Ummi tsked and put the brush down, excusing her self from the room after saying goodnight.

Madison rose from the vanity in only her chemise and strode to the window. She could see the lines of the trees and fields as the crescent moon and stars faintly illuminated the surroundings. Her breath caught as she saw a figure leaving the yard on horseback. She knew instinctively who it was.

**Author's Note**

I know that it's been forever since I posted a chapter. I have no excuses other than the fact that I thought about giving up on this fic. I've decided after reading over it to give the story another shot. Hopefully I will be able to update every few weeks or so. Please be patient. As always please point out any mistakes, inconsistencies, or confusing parts.


	12. Desire

Disclaimer: Please see the prologue

Warning: Things are going to be heating up soon, however, the story will remain suitable for teens. If you are 18 or older you can read the uncensored version of the rest of the story at as it is posted. From now on I will let you know which chapters have been censored.

A New Beginning

Chapter 11

Desire

Not censored

The daily meetings to design the second home were proceeding tensely and with heated anger. Madison refused to budge and Erik refused to draw the rooms that she requested. "You simply cannot grow a tree in the middle of a house, it is ridiculous and I refuse," he said.

Madison glowered at him, strands of hair escaping its confines as she shook with white hot rage, "my father hired you to draw and oversee the building of this house. Perhaps if you do not have the talent to create what I desire than you should resign from your positions and leave at once?" She crossed her arms underneath her breasts and smiled devilishly, her right brow quirking in amusement.

Erik gripped the pen tightly in his hand, ink running from the tip and spotting his fingers and trousers. They were seated next to each other at the small drawing desk, his body turned towards hers. At the moment he wanted nothing more than to close his large hands around her slender neck and squeeze.

She smirked in triumph before smiling sweetly, "I'll call Ummi and have her pack your things. You can leave straight after supper." She rose from her seat, calm and collected. When she attempted to turn and leave the room Erik's hand shot forward and wrapped around her wrist.

Her smile disappeared, "let go of my arm, monsieur." Erik rose from his seat and towered over her smaller frame, his other hand grabbing her other wrist. He stepped towards her and she stepped back, together they stumbled to the wall until her back was pressed against it and he leaned dangerously close.

She suppressed the small shiver that ran down her spine and settle in her abdomen. "My father will have you hanged if you even so much as break a strand of my hair. Release me." Erik dipped his head towards her and pressed her harder into the wall. Removing the anger from his voice and allowing it to flow sensually he leaned his face beside hers and whispered into ear, "Your mouth says 'release me' but your body says 'stay', I don't think you know what you want, in many circumstances."

Madison's face flushed in anger and desire as his rich voice seemed to caress her, just as his breath stirred the fine hairs on her neck. Her breath came in gulps as he loosened his hold on her wrists and stepped closer until he nearly touched her. He stood like that a moment, drinking in the smell of her natural scent mixed with her perfume, delicate orange blossoms.

Another shudder ripped through her torso as her nipples tightened and parts lower began to stir.

A knock at the door ripped them apart as Ummi came bustling through the door. She took in the scene before her and stopped in her tracks. "I brought you two more candles," she said, holding up the goods in her arms as proof. She stepped forward to the table and replaced the burned down stubs of wax with new ones.

Looking from one figure to the other Ummi furrowed her eyebrows and pursed her lips. With candle stubs in hand she walked though the doorway, but instead of closing them turned and glanced at the figures behind her and said, "I'll be leaving this door open, miss Madison, and If I see that it's closed later while I'm on my way to bed, I'll open it again. Good night," and left them alone.

Madison listened to the housekeeper walk down the hallway, her shoes making soft clicks on the hardwood floors, and sighed shakily. Ignoring the architect she pushed past him left the study briskly.

Erik closed his eyes and groaned softly, raising one hand to the masked portion of his face. He had forgotten himself in a moment of anger and desire and allowed the phantom to regain control. Bowing his head in solemnity he remembered his vow to design the house quickly and be on his way, and sighed forlornly. He could still smell her perfume.

AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa

Madison perched on the window seat of her bedroom window, the book she had been reading, Jane Austen's _Pride and Predjudice_, abandoned haphazardly in the folds of her white cotton nightshift. She ran a hand through the ends of her braided hair and stared blankly out into the night.

She tightened her hold on the book and brought it to her chest, leaning into the glass window pane. It felt cool against her cheek, a pleasant respite from the muggy heat of the day. June had turned into July and the corn was growing rapidly. The fields would be harvested soon, and the weather hinted at a possible third harvest before the end of the growing season. This meant that father would be seeking out the gypsy boys soon.

The gypsies had camped outside of town just in time for the season's first harvest. They traveled this way every year, staying for a few weeks to do field work and stock up on supplies before heading northwest. They were not welcomed in most towns, distrusted and feared, but Madison's father had made an effort to befriend them, offering decent pay for the hard labor, he allowed them to be honest workers instead of hated thieves.

She looked up at the stars and sighed, tracing shapes into the fogged glass. They faded slowly as her breath evaporated and she was left staring up at the heavens.

AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa

Eric sat at the desk that that had been placed in his room. He scribbled furiously on a sheet of scrap paper; it was a list of the rooms she had demanded. He expanded and changed them, making them more than the unfinished dreams of a child. For hours he wrote furiously, detailing the list of items and workers that he would need to begin construction until at last he began to draw, transforming their ideas into a work of architectural wonder.

He was nowhere near completion, but for now he would stop. His eyes refused to focus and his hand was cramped. Eric fell onto the bed completely clothed and fell into a deep sleep quicker than he ever had before. For once he did not dream of Christine.

Author's Note

I know that it's much shorter and later than you guys deserve. Hopefully the plot will quicken now that most of the preliminaries are done. Looks like things will be steaming up between Erik and Madison. :)


	13. Whispers

**Disclaimer: Please see the prologue**

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 11**

**Whispers**

**Censored**

Madison smiled and waved to the young gypsy men who were working the field, harvesting the corn along with the few black farmhands that they employed. She turned back to her father who was escorting her on her walk around the premises, "I'm sorry father, what did you say?"

"I was asking if you had decided which young men suited your fancy. Have you found an agreeable one yet?" Madison looked at him and paused mid step. "No, father," she replied, "I have not."

"What about that young man, James, who lives in the orchard next to us? You and he were good friends when you were young and I am sure that he would be a most agreeable match." Madison looked horror stricken, "oh father, how can you say such a thing? James is my friend, not a potential suitor." He looked at her with a disapproving glance and scolded her "I am quite serious when I tell you that you must choose soon, but it seems like you are ignoring what I say. I will not tolerate disobedience any longer Madison." Madison stopped walking and placed her hand upon his arm, "I am not trying to disobey you, but I could not bring myself to look upon my childhood friend as a husband. Please understand."

But her father seemed not to hear her for he was deep in thought. "perhaps the problem is that there are too few young men near us..." he murmured. Madison squeezed his arm in an attempt to regain his attention but he was too focused on his inner dialog. she smiled sadly and kissed his cheek, "I am going inside now, do not stay outside too long without your hat," and began walking back to the house.

Along the way she thought of her dilemma. Her father seemed determined to marry her off to the first eligible bachelor who offered. It would be up to her to screen them carefully and chose a man who would be willing to let her lead her own life. While it was true that she did one day want a husband and a family she also did not want to be chained to a man who would attempt to control her every movement and change her core being. She was simply too passionate and modern to settle for a boring country life.

she entered the house leaving the front door open for any breeze that might stir and climbed the grand staircase. The architect's door, just two rooms down from her own bedchamber, was cracked partially open and she was able to catch a glimpse of the dark room as she passed. Madison's curiosity stopped her and she inched forward to the door frame, attempting to peer into the forbidden sanctuary of the strange, masked man. She jumped when a hand grabbed her shoulder from behind. She turned, and with a small amount of dread laid eyes upon the very man that she had hoped to catch a glimpse of.

Her stomach fluttered and her cheeks burned with embarrassment as he looked at her questioningly. "Is there something that I can help you with mademoiselle?" he asked condescendingly. "No, monsieur, I was just passing by to my chamber." She could tell by the way that he observed her that he had seem her failed attempt to spy on him. "I would be cautious, things did not end pleasantly for the last little girl who attempted to invade my privacy," he warned her. Madison arched her shoulders back in response, lifting her carriage and making herself appear stronger, but also inadvertently thrusting forward her chest.

"I am not a child, and you will speak to me with a more respectful tone of voice," she demanded. He looked her figure over slowly taking her slight but curvy frame into view, his gaze lingering on her bosom just a moment too long before coming back to her face and replied, "no, I suppose you are not a child anymore." He was rewarded with the sudden hard blush that stained her cheeks darker than before. Her hazel eyes filled with gold fury as her spine straightened even more and she stood before him as a wrathful goddess. "You will not say such things to me, do I make myself understood?"

His response was a hearty chuckle, the dark sensuous sound washing over her and sending a jolt of response to places lower in her abdomen than the butterflies in her stomach. "I would love to," he said and leaned closer so that he whispered into her ear, " but I do not work for you," he replied, and upon seeing her startled response he pushed past her into his room. Erik leaned against the door and closed his eyes, he could hear her on the other side and he reveled in the angry swish of her skirts and the harsh steps of her booted feet as she stormed past his room and into her own. A sad smiled graced his lips as he thought of her and looked down at the beginnings of his erection. He groaned in frustration and returned drawing the blueprints as he pushed away his desires and focused on measurements and keystones.

Hours passed and still Madison could not push the annoying architect out of her mind. She resolved to not dwell upon him and even attempted cross-stitching a handkerchief as a way of forgetting him. It didn't work, in fact, the more that she attempted to avoid thinking of him the more she remembered the way his eyes scanned her body, or the darkness of his rumbling laugh. His eyes had sparkled with amusement as he told her that he did not work for her, and no matter how many things she tried such as reading, brushing her hair, or even the dreaded task of cross-stitching she could not stop thinking about him.

Letting out a sigh of frustration she decided to call for Ummi and begin getting ready for bed.

**Authors Note: I know that it has been literally forever since I updated. I am ashamed to tell you that I actually forgot that I was in the middle of writing a story. Lots of drama and work, but still no excuse. Here is another chapter which furthers the blossoming attraction between Erik and Madison. Again, if you are 18 or older (21 in some states) please check out the new chapter on adultfanfiction(dot)net as it contains the uncensored version. Either way I hope you enjoy the chapter.**


	14. Betrayal and New Beginnings

**Disclaimer: Please see the prologue**

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 13**

**Betrayl and New Bonds**

**Not Censored**

The day started out peacefully enough, but it was not to end that way. Two weeks had passed since Madison's emberrassing encounter with Erik, two weeks filled with curious glances that stopped when the other noticed, accidental brushings that may not have been so accidental, and an unspoken burning desire.

Madison was confused; a month ago if Ummi had asked her what she thought of the architect she would have replied that he was egotistical and rude. Now she wasn't sure what she would reply. When they sat together to create the blueprints he would on occasion lower his voice so that she was forced to lean closer to him. After the third time in two days she was convinced that he was doing it on purpose, she just could not figure out why.

She was too distracted by the sultry sounds of his voice, which was more sensuous when he spoke softly. Just the sound of his voice or catching his quick glance was enough to make parts of her body come to attention. The constant ebb of hot and cold was driving her slowly mad. Her thoughts were consumed by him, waking and dreaming.

Little did she know that he was also experiencing the same turmoil.

All thoughts and hurts of Christine had been replaced by Madison and the hopes that she created within him. He found himself resorting to simple tricks like throwing his voice to distract her and sneak a glance at her luscious, womanly frame, or to soften it when they sat side by side so that she leaned closer and he could smell her subtle perfume.

She awakened a need in him that he never thought he would feel again, the need for companionship, and possibly love.

The blueprints were almost finished now, all he needed to add were a few last details and then construction would begin. While he knew that the house would take months to gather the supplies and build this thought saddened him. He resigned himself to enjoy his remaining time.

--------------------------------------------That Evening-----------------------------------------------

Madison was walking from the library where she had chosen a new book to read, a thick tome of ancient mythology, when she passed by her father's study and saw that the light was on. She stepped closer to the cracked door to say good night to her father and paused when she heard soft voices deep in conversation.

She wavered, not knowing if she should interrupt or leave quietly and was contemplating this when she recognized the voices; it was her father and the architect, Erik.

Madison crept closer to the door, her need to hear this conversation overpowering her need to respect her father's privacy.

"So it's done, we can move forward now?" Johnathan asked. She moved closer until she could see some of the room and observed Erik as he nodded and added "yes, I finished the designs this morning. It will take two, possibly three months to complete depending on the weather and the number of men."

A feeling of dread settled in the bottom of Madison's stomach that only deeped with the rest of the conversation.

"I am glad that it will be finished before the worst of winter, I was beginning to grow worried that it would have to be delayed until spring," her father said.

"As soon as I find enough competent workers and the needed materials we can begin to lay the foundation."

Madison could not hold herself back any longer, she burst into the room letting the door bang forcefully against the wall. She looked at her father, her face contorted into utter dismay, "I can not believe that you are actually going through with this nonsensical scheme. Are you really going to sell me off to the highest bidder like a bushel of corn?" her voice wavered as she asked the question that she did not really want the answer to.

"Madison! You know better than to eavesdrop on a private conversation," her father scolded. Her face seemed to crumple, tears welling in her eyes. She looked at Erik with a look of utter dispointment and resentment, turned, and fled.

Eriks shoulders sank in remorse, the way that she had looked at him had spoken volumes more than any hurtful word. He feared that what little seed of hope had grown between them was now shriiveled to nothing.

"Oh dear," Jonathan said with a sigh, "I think I should go after her." He made to move to the door but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"She is very hurt at the moment and may say something that she will later come to regret. If you do not mind I think it woud be best if I go and try to calm her down," Erik stated.

Johnathan was uneasy with another man, practically a stranger, comforting his daughter but the thought of dealing with his crying daughter scared him. This was something that a wife was supposed to do, what his wife would be doing if she had not died of infection shorty after childbirth.

Madison was just like her mother, strong in convictions and spirit, and Jonathan simply could not bring himself to cause his daughter any more turmoil. And so he conceded to the architect who seemed to have formed a strange connection to his daughter over their weeks together.

Johnathan nodded and Erik left the study.

It took Erik a while to find her, and even then he only managed with the help of a maid. She was outside under the tall oak tree, sobbing into her hands. He approached carefully and slowly, wary of startling her.

But even though he was careful in his approach the sun had set, the skies had darkened and his approach was given away by the snapping of a twig.

Madison looked up at him with tear stained cheeks and reddened eyes, a few fat tears rolling down her face. She was leaning against the large tree, the forgotten book in her lap. "Please go away, I would like to be alone," she said softly. When he did not leave she looked at him with sad eyes and the last piece of wariness and fear melted from his heart. She did not look at him with hatred.

He approached her until he was at her side and lowered himself onto the ground beside her, not close enough to touch but not far away enough that she would forget his presence. He was silent and contemplative, staring at the ground between them.

Without words he gave her a sign that he was there to listen if she felt the need to talk, but that he would not pry if she wanted to weep privately.

"My father is not a bad man, nor is he cruel," she said quietly. Erik raised his eyes to her face but stayed silent. She continued, "which makes this even worse because I know that he does it out of love. It is hard for him to raise a daughter on his own, especially when I act so ungrateful. But I can't help wishing that I did not need to hide behind a husband or a father in order to be successful in business."

Madison looked at him with eyes that betrayed a certain wisdom beyond her peers that he had not seen before. "I am an intelligent woman, I can balance an account, keep a plantation running, and so much more. So why do I need to hide behind a man?"

Erik contemplated her question and answered it truthfully for anything less would have been perceived as condescending and therefore unwelcome, "because the world is not yet ready for young women such as yourself."

She turned her gaze back to the book in her lap, the last of her tears rolling down her cheeks. "No," she replied, "men are not ready; women have waited too long."

"In that you are most likely correct," he stated, "but would marriage be so horrible an institution to enter?"

This remark caused her to pause and think a moment, "no, but eventually he would want children and that is something I do not think that I could ever do."

He looked at her curiously, "you do not want children of your own one day?" he asked.

She shook her head, "I do, but it is too easy for a woman to die from complications. By being born I killed my mother, and while my father did his best to raise me I do not think that he ever completely forgave me for taking away the love of his life. He tried very hard to raise me on his own. And Ummi truly is like a mother to me, but it is not the same. I do not think that I could ever do that to a child."

Erik was dumbfounded and shocked. A little voice whispered in the back of his mind a question, had he finally found a kindred soul? It was true that christine had lost her parents but that had never stopped her from dreaming of the perfect family. Madison, however, was consumed by guilt and worry, just like him.

He was unsure of himself at first but he reached a hand out and laid it on her shoulder and when she did not refuse his calming touch the last of christine's hold on him broke away.

**Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who read the last chapter, even though it was so incredibly late. I have already outlined the next few chapters so writing should be easier. I hope to post a chapter everyweek, possibly on Sundays. Since I didn't lose as many readers as I thought I would I am rewarding you guys with another post so soon, sort of to make up for past post delays. I hope that Madison didn't come off as too spoiled, she has a good heart and is really a big softie but she is a little spoiled and too used to getting her way. I think that she and Erik will be perfect for eather other in the end, and that they will be better people for meeting.**


	15. Laughter

Disclaimer: Please see the prologue

A New Beginning

Ch. 14

Laughter

During the next few weeks of the initial building Erik found himself seeking out Madison's company. She would turn around and suddenly find him at the other end of the stable, or be settling into the cracked leather arm chair in the library just to look up and see him walking through the doorway.

Her heart squeezed and her stomach filled with butterflies at these moments when she saw him watching her. His gaze slid to the unopened book in her lap, a slim leather tomes with the word "Candide" embossed in silver leaf on the cover. His eyes widened slightly as his gaze returned to her face.

"That is very heavy reading for a young woman," he said to Madison.

Her expression tightened in irritation, "do you think women incapable of understanding satire, monsieur?" she replied. She could see the look of shock and amusement flash across his face as he raised his hands in defense. "On the contrary mademoiselle" he said, "I believe that women are just as capable scholastically as men. I was merely pointing out that most young ladies would not enjoy such a dark piece of fiction and philosophy."

Madison relaxed at this and allowed her hand to stroke the supple spine of the book as she studied him. He had not moved further into the room than the doorway and the light from the lamp cast shadows across his face and the mask.

"I can understand your shock, but I am not like most young women my age. I can see things for their true value rather than what society dictates," she said as her gaze flashed to the white leather mask that he was never seen without.

Erik saw this and was rooted into place from shock. Had she really just suggested what he thought she did? His hand rose to his white linen shirt as he tried to smooth out the wrinkles. It was a habit of his to fidget with his clothing when he was nervous, and Madison's comment had suddenly made him very nervous. 'Don't be such a fool,' he thought to himself, 'you have faced drunken gypsies, angry eunuchs, and an insane sultana, but the thought of a suggestive comment from this slip of a girl is enough to send you into conniptions? Get a hold of yourself old fool!'

Madison smiled slightly, "do you enjoy Voltaire's work?" she asked him. The question brought Erik out of his inner monologue.

He replied, "I do enjoy some of his works, although 'Candide' is by far his best. His portrayal of the middle east is most accurate and the underlying philosophy is sound."

Her eyebrows rose in wonder, "do you mean that you have been to the middle east?" she asked in a breathy manner.

He nodded and moved further into the library. "I have traveled to several countries, and I spent many months in Persia. Does travel interest you?"

Madison's mouth hung open slightly before she returned to her senses and closed it. "I have always wanted to see some of the places and countries that I read about. Would you, if you do not mind of course, tell me about your adventures?"

And with that Erik sat in the chair beside her and began to tell her the more pleasant side of Persia and the palace. She listened, enraptured with the tale of his time spent designing buildings, of the crowded marketplace, and of the adventures of the spoiled royal cat.

Erik left out the gruesome details of the twisted Khanum, of the torture devices that he created, and of his narrow escape from the palace. He reveled in the way that her face was lit from within by excitement, and the knowledge that he had caused this.

Weeks passed and the timid friendship between Erik and Madison blossomed. There were still furtive glances between them, stolen moments where one silently appraised the other quickly. Instead of the tension lessening between them their juxtaposition seemed to heighten it.

In the time that passed quickly as the materials were gathered, the workers hired, and the foundation built, Madison slowly became aware of an ache that would not pass.

Madison understood a little of what was happening between them. A few stolen kisses when she was young and infatuated with the miller's son along with a few of the books in the library served as her education in the carnal matters of the world. But these feelings of intense desire paired with her anxiety of being found out by her father or Ummi seemed to make it only that much more delightful.

She saw him as an older and more-worldly man who could teach her things about the world that she could never learn by herself.

The question of the mask was still present in her mind but the months of seeing it had transformed it into just another part of him, like any other article of clothing until it was pushed down into her subconscious mind.

It happened one evening when Erik was telling Madison about the sightseeing one could do in Paris that her father interrupted them.

"Ah, there you are Mr. Durmand," Johnathan said to Erik, "I was hoping to have a word with you about the time line for the building phase."

Erik made to rise from the leather armchair but was waved back into his seat, "no need to move, I only wanted to make sure that the time line you gave me is correct?" Mr. Swift asked him.

Erik nodded his head in agreement, "yes, barring poor weather the construction should be finished by the end of October, beginning of November." he replied.

Johnathan Swift smiled enthusiastically and turned his attention to his daughter, "wonderful, I was hoping that that would be the case. I was going to wait until tonight but I might as well tell you now. I have decided that once the house was constructed and furnished that we should host a ball. We will invite some of the eligible young men from Raleigh and the neighboring towns and you may have your pick."

Madison's jaw dropped in surprise, "father, you can not be serious. That is not how courtship works!"

Johnathan smiled and cocked his head "and since when has my darling rebellious daughter been concerned with convention?" And on that note he turned and exited the library, leaving his dumbfounded daughter with the bemused architect.

Erik could not help himself, between the seriousness of her father and the surprised look on Madison's face he burst out laughing. Madison's surprise turned to mock anger as she threw the small book of poetry that she had been holding at the man beside her, who caught it swiftly.

"So you think that this is funny, the hot summer sun has finally driven my father mad and you are laughing!" But she couldn't keep her face straight and she joined his laughter. While his was genuine and deep hers was laced with a hint of melancholy.

**Author's note: See, another chapter in about a week. Looks like I can keep a deadline after all. : ) Seriously though, you would have had it sooner but the first part was like pulling teeth! Nothing seemed to work and the words just wouldn't come. I had actually intended a lot more to happen in the chapter but I don't want the story to move too fast and forget about the little nuances that make it enjoyable. I am after all detail oriented. As a side not, I don't usually beg for reviews because you either will or you won't, but I can't grow as a writer if people don't point out what they like or don't like. I need to know if it's moving too fast, to slow, if I'm leaving out too many scenes, etc as well as typos and mistakes. Keep in mind that if you don't reply I will simply be forced the believe that you all think that I'm wonderful and should continue as I am. ; )**

**Off on another tangent I am especially proud of my little double entendre in this chapter. A cookie to whoever spots it first.**

**And yet another tangent, no Erik didn't tell her about what happened to him in Paris, just about touristy stuff like the Louvre and Notre Dame and such.**


	16. Surprises

**Disclaimer: Please see the prologue.**

**A New Beginning**

**Ch. 15**

**Surprises**

**Not Censored**

**Author's note: Many thanks to Timeflies who is the only person who reviewed the one time that I actually asked for reviews. I guess its a good thing that I'm writing this for myself more than for reviews or I probably would never have picked it up again. Ah well, on with the chapter.**

Madison was becoming bored. Construction was in full swing and required more and more of Erik's time everyday. Her father was also busy as the harvesting season was nearly complete and the end of September approached quickly. They had had a good season, the new corn breed producing a hardier variety that could withstand the long summers better, and her father was too busy overseeing the hired gypsy boys and field hands to entertain her.

She sighed and leaned her head against the alcove wall in her bedroom, then scowled as a stay in her corset dug into her ribcage. Madison had opened one of the windows and was enjoying the slight breeze that ruffled her hair and cooled her sweat.

Her thoughts turned to Erik as she allowed herself to daydream._ 'What would it be like to travel to a distant country, to see palaces and marketplaces, to hear the foreign language and learn about another culture,' _she wondered. _'He is so intelligent and worldly, I did not think that men like him existed.' _

A sharp rap on the door broke her from her reverie. "Come in," Madison called out and smiled as Ummi entered with an armload of clean linen. She looked at the housekeeper who was so much more in reality and rose to help her put the undergarments and blouses away into the bureau drawers.

"Oh no miss Madison, you don't need to help me, ain't proper," Ummi said. She seem slightly flustered but despite her protests Madison could see that the woman was pleased.

"Ummi," she said tentatively, "how did you know, when you met husband?"

The housekeeper looked at her sideways, "what do you mean? How I knew we'd end up together?" Madison nodded. "Well, I suppose it was because every time my mother sent me to fetch water for the laundry Abram would be by the water well ready to pump it out for me. Oh, we never spoke," she said with a laugh "and his face would refuse to look at me, but I knew just the same that he was sweet on me." A sad look crossed her features as she remembered her husband.

"Is is very hard for you here Ummi, with all of your memories of him,of being together?" Madison asked.

Ummi nodded, moisture filling her eyes as she smile sadly at the little girl who was growing into a fine young woman. "It was difficult right after he passed, but I just remind myself that I'll see him again one day."

Madison smiled slightly and embraced the woman who had been like a mother to her over the years, and after a moment of shock Ummi returned it. The hug was firm but reassuring and provided comfort to both women.

Ummi stepped back and wiped the damp from her eyes, "now what's all this talk about knowing who 'the one' is, you ain't got someone in mind already do you?"

Madison blushed and looked away but Ummi was relentless and merely cocked one brow, restating the question. "You ain't still thinking about that architect, are you?"

The daughter blushed an even deeper shade of red when she met the housekeeper's questioning gaze. "Oh Ummi, I don't know what I'm thinking!" she exclaimed. "When we talk I forget about the rest of the world, like it is only him and me and everything, everyone else fades into the background. I thought that I hated him, but now, now I don't know what to think!"

The housekeeper led the flustered girl to sit with her on the edge of the bed, taking her hand and rubbing small circles into the skin of one palm with her thumb. "Do you think that you are falling in love with him?" she asked Madison in a serious tone of voice.

Madison stared into her lap, "I do not know. I barely know the man, barely know anything about him. But when I think about father's demand that I choose a husband soon I can not keep his face from entering my mind. And I know that it is probably absurd but I can not help but wonder what he would be like as a suitor and a husband."

Ummi nodded her head for Madison to continue but did not break the young woman's speech. "I had thought that I would end up married to a plantioner's son or a man from town, someone who would demand that I play the role of mother and pretty hostess without a thought for my own desires or dreams. And now I know that there are other types of men out there, men who travel and have adventures and believe that women are their equal. I do not think that I could be happily married to some country farmer now that I know the kind of life that I would miss."

Madison collapsed in upon herself, hanging her head in her hands which were propped against her lap. Ummi smiled and shook her head, thinking about the tribulations of young love. "I think that you need to talk to him before you make up your mind about anything, get some questions answered."

"You mean the mask that he wears?" Madison asked.

"Yes," ummi replied, "but not just that. Where he comes from, why he came to America; you need to know these answers before anything else happens. Now I have to get back to the laundry or else Lynette is gonna dye the white linen pink with the red drapes in her foolishness."

Madison sat a while, thinking, after Ummi left her. But try as she might she could not clear her head from the questions that swam around in her mind. She sighed deeply and rose from her bed, heading to the door. A walk around the property should clear her muddled thoughts.

As she made her way to the field that bordered the Appleton's property she spotted James surveying the orchard and waved to him. She walked over to where he was standing and returned his smile.

"Going for a walk or coming to see me?" James asked her.

"Just walking to help clear my head."

James studied her serious expression, "anything you want to talk about?" he asked gently.

Madison tilted her head and smiled up at him softly. "Father is still pushing this marriage idea. He's decided now that once that wretched house is finished that we are going to host a ball or some other type of gala for all of Raleigh's bachelor's. I just can not get used to the fact that I will only have a few more weeks of freedom." She looked down, suddenly ashamed that she still resented her father, even if it was only a little.

"Won't you be happy to finally get that house you always wanted? You and I would sit for hours thinking of new impossible rooms and now your dreams are going to come true, it's being built."

Her smile's corners turned down, souring her face, "it is ironic though, I will concede to that, as one dream blooms another withers. At least it will be a pretty cage."

James looked at her with sympathy and a little exasperation. "So have you given any thought to who you might want to marry?" he asked with a sidelong glance in her direction, not having enough courage to meet her eyes.

Madison's thoughts flickered to the strange architect who had invaded her home nearly four months ago and who had begun to invade her thoughts only recently, "no" she replied. But she could not shake the feeling that she was lying to James, and herself.

"I should go, I was supposed to be back ages ago and my father will come looking for me if I don't get back to the house."

Madison waved good-bye and walked away, back up to the plantation house, not seeing James as he turned to catch one more glance at her retreating form.

The next morning's breakfast at the Swift household had been a wonderful affair that morning as Madison and her father were joined by the architect, a rare but not unusual occurrence since the past few weeks.

Madison was enjoying her eggs benedict with thick, smoked bacon as her father tucked into his meal heartily, and Erik sipped a glass of juice, afraid to eat before them for fear of the mask getting in the way and embarrassing him.

Conversation waxed and waned as Johnathan inquired about the progress of the house and Erik answered with a glance to Madison. She seemed reserved this morning, as if her fiery temper had died down a bit and she was now resigned to her fate. He didn't like this new Madison one bit.

Before Erik could conlude his observations on Madison's new and strange timidity the door to the dining room was thrown violently open and the neighbor boy, James burst into the room followed by a very frazzled maid. "I tried to stop him sir, but he pushed right past me," she exclaimed in an upset tone of voice.

Her father calmed the maid, explaining that this was not her fault, and dismissed her from the room. She left warily and with a backward glance at the ill mannered youth who had shocked her.

"Young man, what is it that could not wait past breakfast?" he asked.

James had the decency to blush, finally aware of just what he had done but Johnathan scolded him in a lighthearted tone and a twinkle in his eye.

"I wanted..." his voice broke and he cleared it, wringing his hands in nervousness, "I wanted to talk to you about negotiating a betrothal contract between me and Madison, sir."

Madison's fork dropped to the china plate in her surprise, her mouth falling open in an un-ladylike manner as she gaped at her childhood friend. She barely registered the hiss of air as Erik, in the seat beside her, drew a deep breath in shock and held it as his face turned pale.

"Well, I suppose that that is a topic worth interrupting my meal, come with me to my study so that we can talk," Johnathan said to the young man as he ushered him out with a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Madison sat in her seat too shocked to move or talk as she blinked furiously, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Erik's breathing had returned to normal but his face was almost as pale as his white leather half-mask.

When the events of the past few moments finally registered anger surged into Madison's face. "How dare he!" she exclaimed, too frustrated to extrapolate beyond muttering this phrase to herself a few more times.

Erik turned to her, his knee almost touching hers as he laid his hand upon the table. "A gentleman would have asked the lady first," he said softly as deep hazel eyes turned to meet gold ones.

Her breath hitched and her utterances of 'how dare he' stopped abruptly. Erik refused to release her gaze as he tried to search her face for a hint of repulsion. Seeing none he continued, "he should have asked you first. By asking your father he shows that he does not respect your ability to make decisions."

Madison was unable to reply. She looked at him as if it were for the first time, studying what she could see of his face for a hint of mockery. She found none. Her breath hitched and she swallowed hard, her tongue seemed to have swollen in her mouth from dryness and she did not think that she could talk even if she her brain would have allowed her to form a comprehensible reply.

He held her gaze, afraid that if he broke it then this moment would be lost and that she in turn would be lost to him forever, like Christine had been to Raoul. His palms began to sweat and the room suddenly seemed too warm but he would not relinquish his hold upon her gaze.

As seconds passed and she did not try to look away or flee he removed his hand from the table and slowly, so that she could see, he covered her hand with his own.

His body stilled, afraid that if he moved he would startle her and she would flee, but he could not suppress his slight jolt as she turned her hand over so that his hand now cupped hers, palm to palm, and he saw the delicate, tender expanse of her pale wrist, the veins pulsing strongly in blue tracts against the porcelain skin.

Erik's eyes rose back up to meet hers as the fragile beginnings of hope that had begun weeks ago strengthened.

**Author's note: Sorry for the slight delay, my courses are getting ridiculously tough and it's hard to find 5 minutes to myself any more. I had actually planned a stronger ending but this one seemed to fit more. Don't worry though, you'll definitely be getting more Erik and Madison action next chapter.**


	17. Reason and Passion

**Disclaimer: please see the prologue**

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 16**

**Reason and Passion**

**Not Censored**

Madison crossed her arms in a defiant stance as she glared at her father. He refused to see reason and she was becoming very cross.

"What do you mean you refuse?" he asked her for the third time.

"I mean what I say father, I will not marry James. He is a friend to me and no more."

Johnathan sputtered in unbelieving outrage, "but you have to, we came to terms, papers were signed and I gave my word. You cannot ask me to go back on my word," he explained indignantly.

She stared at him as if by willing it she could make him agree with her. Her jaw clinched, squaring off her jaw in a look that signaled that nothing could change her mind. "Did you," she began, "or did you not tell me that I could choose any man that I wanted?"

He blinked a few times, uneasiness settling in his stomach as he realized that he most likely would lose this battle of wills. "I did," he replied, "but why are you so set against James? He seems to be nice enough young man who comes from a good family with above modest means. Is he not handsome enough?"

Madison's irritation faded into a look of outrage, "please tell me that you do not think that I am anything like those girls I lived with at finishing school. Do you honestly believe that I would reject a suitor just because he is not handsome enough? I cannot marry James because I want more out of life than he could give me. I want to travel the world, see the cultures and countries that I read about. He wants a normal life of raising a family and planning next year's crop, I want to explore the world and have adventure."

Johnathan regarded his daughter thoughtfully and said with a sigh said, "I give up, marry whomever you want for I've had enough of dealing with this nonsense. You are sure that you won't reconsider?" Upon seeing her stern expression he turned in his chair to face his desk. " I'll send word to the Applegates then. But mark my word, Madison, you _will_ be married and you will take this ball seriously. Don't think that you can drive off every young man who tries to court you, I won't stand for it."

He turned back to her noticing that her look of scorn had suddenly become a look of gratefulness and hope. As she kissed his cheek, muttered her goodbyes and left his study he was left to wonder just how much he had spoiled her, and if her stubbornness would be his demise. _'I am getting too old for this nonsense'_ he thought to himself and picked up a fountain pen and a piece of parchment.

AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa

Erik was agitated. The builders were very nearly incompetent at translating his design into a solid piece of architecture and required near constant supervision. He had hoped that after a few weeks of building he could trust to leave them alone for a day or two at a time, but now it looked as if he would not be able to get away during the day.

The sun was just now beginning to descend and he had called an end to the work day. Despite a few minor setbacks the house was coming along at a steady, if less than desirable, pace. He began to make his way back up to the plantation house before is eyes fell on the stables.

He paused mid-step and sank back onto his heel. It had been a while since he had visited his horse in the stables, or even take the black Arabian for a long ride. Construction was consuming the majority of his time, and Madison the rest. A stray thought intruded on his thoughts, she often visited the stables before the evening meal. He wondered if she might be there at this moment and before he had made a decision to see if she was indeed visiting the horses his body had changed directions and he began to walk towards the stables.

The soft snorting and whickering of the horses captured his attention as he heard a soft voice humming from inside.

Madison was stroking the nose of the stallion that Erik had travelled to them on and humming to him softly. His big brown eyes stared down at her, long eyelashes blinking away dust and a soft snort ruffling the strands of hair around her face.

She stroked his velvet nose and held up another cube of sugar, the horse turning his attention to his hand as he nibbled the treat from her palm.

"You will spoil him," a voice said behind her. She gasped, dropping the sugar cube and spinning around until she was faced him. He looked down at the now dirt covered sugar cube before he turned his attention to her, the hint of a playful smile on his face as he said "it looks as if Amin's treat has been ruined, you are not teasing him are you?"

Madison's face colored. She might have mistaken his seemingly innocent comment at face value if not for the secretive smile he wore. "Amin (pronounced Ameen), that is a very pretty name. Does it mean something?" she asked, ignoring his inappropriate comment and trying to change the subject all at once.

His smile widened, crinkling the skin around the eye that was not covered, "trying to change the subject, are you?" She looked up at him, trying her best to feign innocence and responded, "changing the subject? What do you mean? I merely remarked that your horse has an interesting name." He took a step forward, slowly closing the distance until he stood a few inches from her. It was an improper distance for someone who was not a family member or a husband.

Erik looked down at her, his tall frame forcing him to bend his head at this short distance. "I think that you know perfectly well what I am referring to," he said huskily.

Her cheeks burned pink, showing that no matter what she protested, she did understand his meaning. In a moment of unplanned boldness she stepped closer to him, narrowing the distance between them until a deep breath caused her chest to brush against his. She looked up at him, craning her neck, and golden waves spilled around her shoulders.

He raised a hand to finger a strand of her hair, it felt like silk against his slightly calloused palms. Erik brushed a lock from her face, pushing it behind her ear, his hand lingering on her cheek.

She closed her eyes for a moment as a shudder of building desire assaulted her body.

He misread the tremor for fear, forehead knotting in tension and dismay he stepped back from her and began to apologize, "I am sorry Madison. I did not mean to make you uncomfortable."

She looked up at him confused and grabbed his arm before he could turn and flee, "You didn't." Her gaze met his and held it, willing him to believe that she spoke the truth.

His hand rose to touch his mask faintly, the supple leather warm to his touch. He was startled when her other hand rose to cover his own, her fingertips touching it, half expecting her to rip it away like Christine nearly two years ago.

An electric spark ran between them through her hand on his before she lowered it to grasp the folds of her skirt nervously. "This is the first time that you have called me Madison."

Erik looked at her contemplatively. Had he? Was this the first time that he had called her by her name? He had said it so many times to himself, thought it, that he could not remember if he had ever said it out loud to her. She made him feel dizzy and out of control, and for the first time in his life he reveled in these feelings.

"Madison," he repeated, and drew in a breath as she closed the space between them and laid a hand on his chest, feeling the soft white cotton shirt he wore.

"I like the way you say my name," she confessed to him. His eyes searched hers for a hint of doubt.

He leaned forward, his face dipping to hers and he whispered her name against her lips before he kissed her softly. His heart was pounding wildly, afraid that at any moment she would rear back 

angrily or he would wake from this, what was surly a dream. But when she dropped her skirts and spread her other palm against his chest, leaning into the kiss and pressing her lush mouth against his soft lips more firmly all doubts flew from his mind. She was real, and willing, and desired him.

He wrapped a strong arm around her waist and pulled her closer, if it was possible, until she was molded against his front, breasts flattened against his broad chest, and the other hand tangled in her hair.

Madison kissed him enthusiastically, moving her hands from his chest to wrap around his neck. She was faintly aware of the white leather mask digging into her cheek but not caring as she was pressed fully against him, her hips lining up with one of his powerful thighs.

A slight tremor traveled down her spine as her womanhood throbbed in time with her frantic heartbeat. Her palms were sweating and her skin felt as if it was on fire but all she could think about was the feel of his lips on hers and his hand against her waist as he kissed her passionately.

**And you guys thought that the last chapter was a cliff hanger. smiles evilly This scene has been rattling around in my head for quite some time, I'm just glad that if came out so well. I'm really excited about the direction of the story, now that I have the rest of the story plotted it should be much smoother sailing now. Unless classes get evil again. I already know how the story is going to end (or at least for the most part) and am contemplating a sequel series. What do you guys think? Oh, and before I forget thanks for the reviews! They encouraged me to get this chapter out sooner than I have been. hint hint Thanks also to my silent readers, I know you're out there!**


	18. Book

**Disclaimer: Please see the prologue. **

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 17**

**Book**

**Censored**

Madison was trying to ignore the feel of Erik's lips on the back of her neck as she reached for a book on the top shelf, and failing miserably. They were situated in a small alcove of the family library, hidden from the view of the door, but not the room.

A sigh escaped her as his arms wrapped around her front to rest against her stomach and she nearly forgot about the book that she was trying to retrieve. She leaned her head back to rest against his shoulder as he trailed warm kisses up the side of her neck. "I thought that you wanted to read before the lunch break ended and you needed to get back to work?" she asked him teasingly.

He replied by pulling her closer, hands wrapped possessively around her waist, and gently bit her earlobe. She gasped in shock but did not pull away. "This is much more entertaining," he replied huskily.

Madison smiled and covered one of his hands with her own. She loved his voice, his soft but deep tone sent shivers down her back as he whispered in her ear. She turned in his embrace, completely forgetting about the book that she had been attempting to reach, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Rising on the tips of her feet she rose to meet his bowed head, lips pressing together in a soft kiss that deepened with every passing second.

She ignored the feel of his mask against her cheek, the strange sensation barely registering as he ravaged her mouth. The sound of footsteps passing quickly in the hallway made Erik and Madison break apart.

"I should go, before the workers take my absence as a sign to leave for the day." He trailed a hand down her soft cheek, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. She nodded her understanding and closed her eyes as he placed one last kiss against her lips and left the library. She leaned against the heavy bookcase, a hand clutched to her chest as she attempted to regain her breath and slow her beating heart to a normal pace. His touch, his caress, his kiss did wicked things to her body that left her aching for more.

Construction was proceeding steadily now that the workers had found their rhythm. The wooden frame was complete and the walls had just started to be added. This meant that Erik's free time was limited and their meetings held during stolen moments during the day and evening.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

One evening, just after the sun had set in a glorious display of red, gold, and purple, Madison sat on her window seat. The glass pane had been pulled open and a soft breeze cooled the room. Summer was finally beginning to give way to autumn as the oak leaves began to lose their green and a cool wind chilled the nights, banishing the afternoon heat.

Her thin cotton shift clung to her curvy frame as the beads of sweat that dotted her body began to cool, pebbling her skin and raising fine blonde hairs. The change in weather was a pleasant respite that signaled the beginnings of the cooler months. A knock sounded on her bedroom door but when she called out to ask who was there she was met with silence.

Sliding off of the window seat she crossed to her bed and retrieved the thick cotton robe that was laid out, wrapping it around herself and belting it at the waist. She opened the door to an empty hallway, only looking down at the small thump against the floor.

A small red book had been leaned against her door, falling when the door was opened. Looking down the hallway and again down the other side her eyes paused on the Erik's door. It was shut, with no sign that he had exited or entered it recently. Curiosity gained the better of her and she picked up the small, thin book, entered her room, and closed her door.

The cover was slightly worn but still legible. Neat gold font embossed into the cover read "Kamasutram". She opened the cover, marveling at the intricate gold drawings that bordered the title page. Flipping past the first few pages she found the first chapter and began to read. It was an interesting and unusual book, detailing the different aspects of romantic love and their ways of expression. The section on kissing made Madison's head spin, she had not known that there were so many ways to kiss, or what they meant.

She marked her page with the attached red ribbon and began to flip through the rest of the pages, taking note of chapter titles and key phrases until she slowly found her way to the middle of the small book, to the illustrations.

Madison gasped, sucking air into her lungs as her eyes widened in shock and her breath hitched. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think as she took in the first carefully painted drawing. She did not notice the fine detail or the use of colors; she could only stare at the depiction of the half-clothed couple. Her lungs ached and she slowly released her breath as her hands trembled slightly and warmth flooded her cheeks.

She wanted to look away, embarrassed and confused, but the drawing entranced her. Was the man doing what she thought he was doing? Was this really what it looked like? She was not completely unaware of the mechanics of intercourse, having lived in the country her whole life, but she had never seen two dogs do what the illustrated man and woman were doing.

She turned the page, emitting another yet softer gasp as she saw the same illustrated couple in a new position. She shut the book harder than necessary and closed her eyes, trying to banish the lewd but 

captivating drawings from her mind. They seemed to be burned into the backs of her eyelids, refusing to fade.

Madison's thoughts shifted from her private torment back to Erik. It had to have been him; no one else would have dared to give a young lady such a provocative book. Did he know how it would affect her?

She smiled impishly as she wondered what Madame Trousseau, the head of that wretched finishing school, would think of her now. Thoughts of the stern woman vanished and were replaced by Erik and the illustrations in the book as she flipped it back open only to close it again.

Rising to exchange her under shift for fresh night clothes she stopped at the window, breathing in the clean breeze. In the distance she saw a figure dressed in white and black, an arm raised to point at one of the builders. He turned to glance at the house and though she could not be sure she thought that he might be looking for her. She wondered if he would be able to tell that his inappropriate gift had stirred such a response.

Shivering against the now chilled air she hugged her robe tighter against her body and retreated to her wardrobe.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The next few days held a slight tension between Erik and Madison. Neither mentioned the little red book which occupied so much of their thoughts. Their impromptu rendezvous were growing more heated by the day until Madison was surprised that their clothing often remained intact. She had agreed to meet him one Sunday afternoon at the edge of the mountain, telling Ummi that she was going to take one of the mares for some exercise. By the look on Ummi's face Madison was not quite sure if Ummi had completely believed her story, but woman did not try to stop her.

Madison met with Erik, who had arrived at the designated spot twenty minutes prior, and dismounted from the side saddle. He took the reins and tied them about a nearby tree branch, close to but not beside his own horse Amin (Ameen).

Erik turned and took her hand in his and led her to the blanket that he had spread on the grass under a pretty tree. The sun shone through in dappled patches, lending a romantic air to the meeting. She sat beside him on the blanket and looked surprised when she saw that his saddlebag was laid within reach. "I brought some food and a book. _Utopia_ is a favorite of yours, is it not?" he asked her with uncertainty. She smiled to reassure him, nodding and curled up against his side after he removed the items from the bag. He leaned against the tree and she against his side, legs curled under her as she rested her head against his the crook of his neck and he began to read.

When he finished reading the first chapter aloud he set the book down and took her hand in his, the pad of his thumb drawing circles against her palm.

Madison looked at him curiously, observing his sudden shyness and vulnerability. She was so used to the strong confident man who irritated her that this new Erik intrigued her. He seemed lost for words, 

wanting to say something but unable to form sentences. When he turned his f ace to hers she saw the look of insecurity. After a moment he found the words that he needed to say, "I wish that I could change this," he murmured slowly, his unoccupied hand hovering over the masked portion of his face.

He dropped his gaze to the blanket, afraid to see pity. Madison was at a loss for words, knowing that the wrong thing could shatter the hard won link between them. She replied by leaning in and kissing his unmasked cheek. He turned his head to face hers, his lips meeting hers as a small shudder overtook his body and dampness misted his golden eyes.

She gave herself to the kiss, not protesting as he pulled her into his lap, his hands circling her back. Madison tilted her head for a better angle and rested her palms against his chest, feeling the strong muscles beneath the white cotton shirt. When the kiss ended she pulled her head back so that she could look at him, "I do not."

He smiled and pulled her face back down to his, their lips meeting in a soft, healing kiss.

**Author's Note: I thought that Erik and Madison needed a little fluff after all of that heat. I don't normally do fluffy, romantic scenes, so let me know if it's too campy or sappy. It only makes sense that Erik would use intense sexual desire to mask his true emotions, believing that no woman could love him but maybe he could pleasure her. So I think it's very important for their budding relationship to include some fluff. As always, let me know if I have made any grievous errors or if Erik is getting out of character! :) And thanks to all of my reviewers and readers.**


	19. Trouble

Disclaimer: Please see the prologue.

A New Beginning

Chapter 18

Trouble

Not Censored

Madison was standing under an apple tree at the border of her father's and the Appleton's property. She was absently rolling a fallen apple under her newly polished black boots, gazing at the newly constructed house.

In the past four weeks the construction had been completed, the walls and floors installed, the pillars cast and placed, the roof shingled, and now the workers were painting the outside. White, with green shutters and trim.

Her hand knotted the fabric of her dark blue skirt, wrinkling the fabric. Because of the rapidly cooling weather her wardrobe had shifted from breezy cotton blouses and skirts to heavier cottons and silks with long sleeves and lace embellishments.

It was nearly complete, only needing to be furnished and wallpapered, and in two weeks time they would hold the ball for her to meet all of Raleigh's eligible bachelors. She did not know what to think anymore, her head swam with thoughts of Erik, of their secret rendezvous and stolen kisses.

He seemed perfect, and thoughts of him brought a light nervousness to her stomach and made her heart beat faster. Her body responded to him in every way, and her mind reveled in the thought that he might be a perfect match intellectually.

But no matter how perfect he seemed to be for her or how enlightened he was she was plagued by small doubts that gnawed at her constantly.

He was at once a gentle, unsure man and an intimidating, argumentative perfectionist, and he confused her. Over the months that they had known one another she had seen many sides of him, but she was still unsure of who he was as a person.

Madison recalled the stories of the great adventures he had had, of the places he had traveled and the people he had met, but in the weeks of their new relationship she had learned little about him as a man.

If she did not know any better she would think that he was distracting her.

She looked once more at the house, at Erik directing the few builders that were left, and turned to walk back to the house. Passing by the now harvested corn fields she spotted one of the hired workers and waved a friendly hello.

It was Alandro, one of the gypsy boys that her father frequently hired for the harvest season. Now that their work was done the dozen boys would return to their camps and families and prepare to move south for the winter months.

Often she stopped to talk to him or one of his younger brothers when they were done working for the day, now she stopped to say goodbye to them for the season. He stood at the edge of the field, one hand resting at his side and the other leaning against the sickle that was propped against the ground, the curved blade pointing away from them.

She stopped when she was close to him, looking over his shoulder to his youngest brother Jan who was six years younger than Alandro's twenty two. His face was tanned from the burning sun, creating an exotic appeal with his dark brown hair and eyes.

"When are you going this winter?" she asked him, raising one hand to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun.

He smiled charmingly, revealing a row of straight white teeth as he answered, "We are going further this year, down below Charleston I believe."

Her eyes widened in surprise. It was true that the winters had been harsher these past few years but she had not thought that they would go so far south this year. The extra distance would add a month to their journey, two weeks down and two more back up, which meant less time to work the fields in the harvesting months. They might not even return so far north in the future if they could find good work near the North and South Carolina border.

She wanted to hug him goodbye, restraining herself just barely by reminding herself that it would be too brazen. Her thoughts flickered to Erik and her recent, scandalous behavior and she blushed faintly. Madison never noticed as Alandro's smile widened, his eyes crinkling in true pleasure, at her blush, mistaking it as a reaction to his presence.

"We will have one last celebration while we gather supplies and ready. You should join us, I know that mama would love to meet you."

Madison balked, "oh, I do not think that I should. But thank you for the offer. I hope that your journey will be a good one this year." She turned to leave but was stopped by his hand on her shoulder.

"With the shifting of the seasons we may begin settling elsewhere for summer work. Every year I ask you to come and celebrate with us, to meet mama and my family yet you say no. This year, I insist, she has been begging to finally meet and thank you."

She shifted from foot to foot weighing the choices. It was true that she had known Alandro and his brothers for many years, and she did not want to be rude. But she also knew that her father, who was usually lenient, would forbid it if he knew. It was not that Alandro and his family were bad people, they had been working for them for years, but they were gypsies.

He saw that she wavered between decisions and released her shoulder while smiling reassuringly.

"Think of it as an adventure, before you are married and begin to raise a family," he insisted.

"I promise to think about it," she said, and listened while he gave her directions to their camp. Once she had them memorized she waved goodbye to him and his brothers and began walking back up to the house.

* * *

Erik seethed. First that farm boy, now this gypsy scoundrel. He had seen Madison's exchange with the vermin, his blood boiling as the young man dared to lay a hand on what was his.

He clamped his hands into fists for fear of punching the newly painted exterior. From his vantage point up the slight slope he had seen her talking to the field hand, saw as the boy touched her and she did not shy away from him. He was not close enough to hear their words, but he saw her perfect lips moving and knew that they were conversing.

He closed his eyes in frustration, ignoring the looks from the frightened workers as his rage became apparent with every passing moment.

Hot loathing cooled to quiet anger as his fears settled in his stomach in a lump of dread. Everything had been going wonderfully, for one of the first time in his life, now all of his carefully laid plans would be ruined again, and by another foolish boy who thought that he could claim what was clearly his.

He released the workers from their day's work, barely noticing their quick retreat as he was consumed with thoughts and worries. He barely remembered making the long walk from the new house to the main one, barely remembered climbing the stairs to the second floor, or opening his door and collapsing on his bed.

Erik peeled off the white leather mask, reveling in the sensation of cooled air touching hot, sweaty flesh for the first time that day. As the scarred, deformed side of his face cooled so did his anger until the knots of the dread that had settled in his stomach lessened and he was able to think again.

He would need to do something, talk to her. She was a rational woman and would understand why she could never speak to that foolish boy again. Yes, she would understand; she had to. A plan formed in his mind and the worry smoothed from his brow, his blood pressure settling.

* * *

Madison balled her hands into fists at her side; it was all she could do to keep from hitting the irritating man. "And what do you mean I can never talk to Alandro again?"

Erik took a calming breath, attempting to cool his rage. He had tried to explain to her, tried to appeal to her rational nature, but something had gone terribly wrong. "Exactly what I said, you will not talk to him again."

She stared at him, mouth dropping in unladylike speechlessness. Her ire cooled until it was a calm anger that settled inside of her. Unfortunately for Erik he did not know Madison's moods, that when she was 

yelling or stomping her feet she was upset but not truly angry. But when she was silent and calm but her eyes burned with angry was when you needed to be fearful.

Her eyes narrowed, arms folded across her chest as she cocked her head to one side and asked of him icily, "and what makes you think that I have to do what you say, that you can control me?"

He paused a moment, his rage halted by uneasiness. He sensed that the icy tone of voice was a dangerous one and he did not know what to do. If it had been Christine she would have cowered at his feet by now, promising to obey so that he would not be upset with her. Madison acted like no woman he had ever known, not that he was acquainted with very many, and he was unsure of how to proceed.

"You have not answered me, Erik. Why should I do as you say? You are not my father, my brother, my husband, or even my fiancée. So why should I do what you tell me to?"

He did not like the chill in her voice or the soft, even tone with which she spoke. Her sudden control, he was ashamed to admit, frightened him a little. What could he say, what could he tell her to make her see reason?

Madison eyed him up and down, lips pursed as he stood still, body ramrod tight. A minute passed between them, then another. She shook her head and turned to leave the room, "that is what I thought."

But she was stopped as his hand grabbed her left arm and turned her back to him.

"Let go of me you... you barbaric man!" she yelled at him as his hold on her arm refused to loosen.

"You must listen to reason, Madison…" he began but was interrupted.

"Reason, I must listen to reason. But you haven't given me any reason, haven't asked me. No, you just demand! Like you have some claim to me because we have kissed. Well I won't be controlled by an insufferable lout!" She jerked her arm from his grasp as she brought her foot down on his instep, crushing her heel into the soft leather of his walking shoes and the arch of his foot.

He yelped in surprise, loosening his grip, as pain exploded, barely registering her flee from the library and him.

Erik leaned one hand against the wall, focusing on breathing in and out. His teeth were clenched against the pain, his breath hissing through them as he attempting to regain control of himself. "I will not strangle her, I will not strangle her," he repeated under his breath to himself as he tried to calm his rage.

In the distance he heard the slamming of a door, the door to her bedroom most likely, and he groaned. How had he ruined the trust that had grown between them in mere minutes?

* * *

Madison slammed her bedroom door, a resounding bang as it hit the doorframe and nearly bounced back before the latch caught. Ummi's head peaked out of the wardrobe, the last silk shirt slipping from her weathered hands. "Good heavens child, you nearly scared me to death."

Ummi peered at Madison, studying the young woman and taking note of her flushed cheeks and the angry twist to her face.

"What's got you in such an uproar?" she asked while picking up the fallen shirt and refolding it, sliding it into the drawer and shutting the cabinet.

Despite her anger tears welled in Madison's eyes as she blinked them furiously away, refusing to surrender to them and instead focused on the cool rage that seeped into every corner of her soul. "He thinks that he can own me, that I am like some property that he can control. I thought that he was different, that I had found someone who would understand, but he does not understand anything!"

Ummi took Madison into a tight embrace, arms wrapped around her shoulders as she let the young woman sob into the crook of her neck.

When she was done Ummi handed her a clean white handkerchief and patted her hand.

"Ummi," Madison began tentatively, "the gypsy boys invited me to their camp for an end of harvest celebration and I am going to go tonight. Could you please help me?"

The housekeeper looked startled and uneasy, "you know that I don't like lying for you miss Madison, it ain't right."

Madison took Ummi's hands in hers and looked at her beseechingly, "The house is built and being furnished any my days as a free, happy woman are numbered. I want one adventure before I settle for a life I never wished for. Is that too much to ask?"

Ummi shifted from one foot to another, debating these words, "I understand miss, I do, but I don't like lying to your father. It ain't the decent thing to do."

Despite her protests Madison knew that Ummi would reluctantly agree to aid her, and after a few minutes of debate she gave in. Madison smiled and kissed the woman's cheek.

"At least take a shawl with you, and a lantern, and don't be too late! I'll cover for you until two hours after sundown, and if you're not back by then I'm telling your father."

Madison smiled and grabbed her thickest wool shawl, wrapping it around her shoulders to ward off the November chill and made her way to the stables and the little chestnut colored gelding that was hers.

Ummi watched her leave, a sense of foreboding settling around her as she sighed and wondered what she had just agreed to do.

**Author's Note:**

**Ooh, looks like some trouble in paradise. Well, it had to happen sooner or later that Erik's possessive and controlling personality would throw them for a loop. Who knows, maybe Madison is the girl to change that. She certainly won't put up with it. As always, constructive criticism and praise is welcome.**


	20. Savior

**Disclaimer: Please see the prologue**

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 19**

**Savior**

**Not Censored**

Madison giggled and placed a hand to her cheek, the warmth from the fire and the headiness of the wine made her body flush with heat. She felt like a wanton woman as she sat by the large fire, the gypsies surrounding it sitting languidly and sharing stories.

Alandro's mother Mirella told her about his youth and the mischievous things that he had done. Madison noticed that the subject of the story appeared to be outraged that his mother was telling her them, but Madison could see that he was secretly pleased.

After she had finished telling Madison about the time that Alandro had tried to dislodge some fruit from a tree and had accidentally knocked down a bee hive, Mirella announced that it was time for her to retire as they would begin travelling in the morning.

Madison watched the elder members and the small children of the group head to their homes, the large covered wagons that were stationed in a large circle around the fire. She smiled as she watched one elderly couple walk to their brightly painted wagon, the husband helping his rheumatoid wife up the small stairs.

The clink of the wine bottle hitting her cup brought her gaze back to Alandro, and the clay mug that he was refilling. "Oh no," she protested "I think that I have really had too much wine. Besides I have stayed out much later than I should and need to head back home."

Alandro smiled charmingly, his large brown eyes glowing in the dancing firelight, "just one more glass, it is our best wine for our loveliest guest."

She protested, saying that it was getting too late and Ummi would worry about her, but Alandro merely filled her mug to the brim and began to distract her with stories about what it was like to grow up among the Romani, as she learned was their proper name.

Madison listened intensely as he spun colorful tales of less embarrassing parts of his youth, not noticing how quickly her cup emptied and he refilled it.

* * *

Ummi wrung her hands fiercely as she watched the grandfather clock. Three hours had passed since dinner and Ummi had told Mr. Swift that Madison was feeling under the weather and had taken her meal in her room. Now she chastised herself for lying as her mind played out the worst possible 

scenarios to explain the young woman's absence. She just knew that poor Miss Madison was lying in a field or ditch somewhere, hurt or dying.

After five more minutes passed and there was still no sign of the woman Ummi resolved to do something.

She walked quickly to the study where she knew Mr. Swift and that architect were sitting and talking. She knocked on the door and entered, her heart beating rapidly in her chest as a lump lodged in her throat.

Despite her unease she told the two men about what had happened earlier that day, how Miss Madison had been upset and begged to see the gypsies before they left forever, how she had let her go against her better judgment, and how she was two hours late.

Mr. Swift was furious at the betrayal, his anger deflating as he thought of his young, naïve daughter out after dark with a band of gypsies. "We must find her, I must go look for her," he said, but was stopped by Erik.

"I think it would be best if you stayed here, in case she comes back. I will go look for her."

Johnathan was about to protest when the warning rumble of thunder echoed in the distance. His face paled and his palms began to sweat as thoughts raced through his mind in a confusing flutter. He was an old man, one not up to racing around the countryside especially at night and with a storm fast approaching.

He nodded, acquiescing to the architect who seemed to have a strange bond with his daughter.

Erik rose from the chair and was led from the room by Ummi to gather the necessary supplies.

Johnathan sank into his chair, a knot of dread clenching his stomach.

* * *

Erik spurred his black Arabian on despite the bone chilling cold that seemed to cut through his thick wool cape and into him with every blast of wind. It was going to rain soon, the smell of the moisture thick in the air as animals sought shelter and the trees bowed from the force of the wind.

He raised his gas lantern higher before him as he carefully led his horse along the terrain, the slow pace gating on his nerves. It would do no one any good for Amin to falter in a hole and break his leg, so Erik resisted the urge to push the horse any faster than a jarring canter.

It was a lucky thing that the moon hung full in the sky, a luminescent orb that helped Erik avoid the majority of tree roots and ruts in the terrain.

Even though Johnathan had told him where those vile gypsies camped, and his scouting of the surrounding land had made him more familiar with the area, he progressed at a slow pace.

His grip tightened on the reins as he neared the camp, he could see the wagons and the haze of a large fire in the distance.

* * *

Madison blinked her eyes slowly, they seemed to be getting heavier every passing moment, and wondered how Alandro's hand had ended up on her knee. Her brow furrowed as she brushed his hand from her body, "I am a lady, sir, and you will not lay your hands on me without permission. Besides, it is late and I must be going now," she slurred and stumbled as she attempted to rise from where she had been sitting.

Her mind felt fuzzy and it seemed to take every bit of concentration that she had in order to not fall over. When the young Romani attempted to pull her back down to sit beside him, ignoring her protestations, she began to pull her hand from his grasp.

She looked around the campfire, now noticing that the majority of the people had retired to their wagons at some point in the night, and now only a few couples were left. Those remaining paid them no mind, instead too intent on caressing and kissing before they themselves would retire for the evening.

Her mind mulled over this information as realization slowly dawned on her, the pieces clicking as her eyes widened and she pulled her hand free from his grasp. Madison stumbled away from him, a small rock nearly upsetting her balance as she made her way to her horse, not aware of the young man who followed her.

"Madison, it is too late to leave now, you would get lost in the dark," he said as he grasped her shoulder almost painfully. She turned to him as he continued "you will leave in the morning, after you have broken your fast. Indeed, we will escort you to your house before we leave."

He smiled reassuringly and tried to lead her back to the fire, but Madison was wary. The alcohol had made her terribly sleepy but a small part of her mind jumped in alarm. She could not put a finger on it, but somehow she knew that to spend the night here would be a very, very bad idea.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, the sky lightening in brief flashes as a storm rolled their way.

"See," he plied her, "it is going to storm. You don't want to travel home in the pouring rain, do you? Come, you can sleep here and in the morning we will take you home."

Lightning flashed, brightening the sky, and in a moment that ended so quickly she wasn't sure if it was her imagination or reality, she saw a black figure in the distance between two of the wagons.

A few drops of rain fell, sprinkling Madison and Alandro, the fire and the couples that surrounded it, and forced the last of them inside their wagons. The rain seemed to bring Madison back to reality and she tugged herself free from his grasp and reached for her horses reins, trying to undo the knot that bound him to one of the wagons.

Alandro's friendly façade fell as he grabbed her arm in a bruising grip and pulled her to him. She fought him, suddenly aware that they were alone and he was going to drag her into the last, empty wagon and that she was probably too drunk to stop him.

"Let go of me!" she shrieked before he placed a hand over her mouth to silence her as he continued to drag her to the now ominous wagon.

"The lady said to let go," a voice said from behind the struggling couple.

Alandro stiffened and turned, viewing the bark figure atop a large, black horse. The man dismounted gracefully, dropping the reins and stalking towards them.

"I suggest that you do as she says," Erik threatened.

Alandro turned, pulling Madison before him in a crushing grip until one hand held her body against his and the other grasped her arm. "And why should I let her go? She came here of her own free will, it's obvious that she's merely playing hard to get."

Erik took a step forward so that he was only a few steps away from them. His hand snaked into his vest, pulling out the Punjab lasso that he was now very glad he had stopped to retrieve. The sinister rope dangled from his experienced grip.

The young rom (gypsy) eyed the rope warily, debating if the woman in his grasp was worth the trouble. After a moment of hesitation he released her, glaring at the bizarrely masked man before him before making the sign to ward off the devil and spitting on the ground. "Take her, then," he said angrily, and watched Madison rush to Erik.

Erik studied the young man for a sign that he would rush them, and when the boy retreated into a wagon he put the noose away and tried to comfort the woman in his arms. He rubbed her back as she cried into his shoulder, her words muffled against his cloak.

More lightning flashed and thunder rumbled as the drops of rain fell harder and more steadily and Erik lifted Madison up onto his mount. He gathered the reins of her horse and tied the lead to his own before mounting behind her.

With one last glance at the gypsy camp to make sure that they would not be followed or attacked Erik led them out of the circle and away from the garish wagons.

His thighs surrounded hers as one of his hands rested on her stomach to steady her. They were silent as she sobbed, finally exhausting herself and leaning back into his embrace, her back pressed against his front.

They were heading back to her father's property, on the side closest to the small mountain and forest. The rain fell harder, pelting them and the horses. Madison tried to blink the rain from her eyes, the water falling heavily in her eyebrows and lashes.

As the wind blew she shivered, her shawl lost somewhere back at the camp, and Erik cursed.

The storm was quickening and it was fast becoming dangerous to travel the few miles it would take to reach the house. He opened his warm, wool cloak and draped it around both of them, the fabric forcing them to sit closer together.

Rain slipped under the edge of his mask, running through his hair and down the scarred side of his face. The thunder and lightning were coming faster as the storm moved closer towards them. They would not make it back to the house before the worst of the storm hit; they would have to seek shelter.

He cursed again and turned the horses into the forest, he knew where they could hide from the storm.

* * *

Johnathan was frantic. Erik had left an hour ago and there was still no sign of him, his daughter, or the storm abating. He roused the servants, instructing the men to travel to the neighboring farms and orchards to see if they had seen any signs of his daughter, who was surely lost and frightened in the storm.

Ummi wrung her hands in worry, "Oh Mister Swift, I never should have let her go! Oh this is all my fault!"

Johnathan wanted to agree, eager to blame someone, but knew that his daughter could talk the nicest person into committing the most wicked of deeds.

"She will be alright, she has to," he said with a sob, "we will have the whole state looking for her if we have to."

A flash of lightning pulled their attention to the window. The storm showed no signs of stopping.

* * *

Madison roused from her stupor as Erik lifted her from his horse. She looked around, confused, "where are we?"

He ignored her for a moment as he led the horses to the back of the cave, and the second chamber where a pile of straw lined one wall. It was a good thing that he had brought enough straw and hay up here a week ago, along with a few other small necessities. He made sure that the horses had everything they would need and tied them to a stalagmite so that they would not be able to run in fear from the sounds of the storm. Erik made his way to the first chamber of the cave, where Madison was standing and dripping water.

She stumbled a bit and leaned against the wall as she watched him light a gas lantern and gather a few dry logs from his pile of firewood. She blinked her eyes slowly as she slid to the floor and tried to make sense of the past few hours. How could she have been so stupid, so trusting?

A shiver wracked her body as her damp clothes clung to her cold skin.

He looked over at her and cursed again, stoking the fire into a steady blaze that would soon heat the naturally cool cave air. He gestured for her to join him and watched as she stumbled over to him.

She sat next to him in front of the fire and watched the flames dance. Tears trickled down her cheeks, mixing with the rain. He reached over to her and wiped the dampness from one cheek, pushing wet strands of hair from her face. "Do not cry, please do not cry," he begged her softly.

Breathing deeply and trying to calm herself Madison started to shake with tremors, her hands betraying her emotions. He wrapped her cold, trembling hands in his and brought them to his mouth, kissing each knuckle.

"I feel so stupid," she explained, "you tried to warn me but I would not listen." Her brow furrowed and her eyes began to mist again as Erik pulled her into an embrace. After a few minutes of crying she wiped her tears away and settled into his arms, one hand wrapped around his neck as she rested her face in the crook of his shoulder. Her warm breath tickled the fine hairs on his neck and he shifted uncomfortably, suddenly noticing that she was flush against his body and sitting practically in his lap.

She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes, the wine giving her courage. "Please do not be angry with me, Erik," and before he could reply she leaned in and captured his mouth. As she wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her waist, pulling her closer, they kissed passionately.

As her mouth opened and her tongue licked his lips his mouth in surprise; she seized the opportunity and explored him and soon his tongue joined hers as their lips locked together. Awkwardly shifting her legs she moved one to either side on him until she sat fully on his lap. She gasped as the proof of his arousal twitched against her thigh, pressing against her, and he took the opportunity to explore her mouth further with his tongue.

Her eyes glazed over in pleasure as she tangled one hand in his hair, feeling the thin wire that held his mask over his face and stroked the back of his neck as he shifted her in his lap and pressed his hardened manhood against the layers of wet cloth that covered the junction between her thighs.

She moaned into his mouth, spurring him on until he grasped her hips and ground her against his erection. Madison knew that this wicked pleasure was wrong, that she should stop, and that she was drunk, but it was very hard to care about behaving like a proper young lady when he did such wicked things to her body.

He detangled her from him and leaned her down against a blanket that she hadn't noticed they were sitting on. "I will be right back," he told her and watched her nod. She sighed in pained pleasure as she watched him walk to the back of the cave and past the bend in the walkway that led to the second, larger chamber. Madison turned her attention to the fire, watching the flames dance and listening to the crackle as the wood burned. She loved the way fires smelled.

Her eyes closed for a moment, and then another as she listened to its crackle.

* * *

Erik returned to the first chamber, arms loaded with thick blankets he had purchased from town. He watched her as she lay on the blanketed ground; her face turned to the fire and smiled. Why had the heavens blessed him with this beautiful angel who did not seem to care about his mask?

He dropped the blankets by her still form and watched the way her chest rose and fell with each breath. When she shifted her damp skirts rose and he could see the neat turn of a creamy pale stockinged ankle above her shiny, black boot. He had seen bare legs nearly every day while at the opera house, but suddenly the sight of her ankle was enough to keep him aroused.

He knew that the fire's heat could only do so much and that they would need to shed their soaked clothing so that they would not catch cold. If something more came from insuring their good health, then so be it. Who was he to deny fate? And besides, the best cure for chilled skin was friction. He smiled, suddenly nervous, as he approached her.

What he had failed to notice was that her breathing had steadied into a slow pace as she lay before the fire. He called her name softly and when she did not reply he approached her figure. His brow furrowed in anger and dismay. She was asleep; the frustrating, wretched woman was asleep.

He rolled his eyes heavenward and glared. But she would still catch cold if she slept in soaking wet clothes so while being careful to stare at the grey stone wall before him and preserve her modesty he stripped her of her clothing until she was bare and shivering and wrapped her nubile body in a soft, warm blanket.

Wringing the moisture from her hair he laid her down in front of the fire and removed his own soaked clothes, carefully watching her to make sure that she did not wake. He laid their clothes out of reach of stray sparks but near enough to the fire so that they would not be wet come morning.

And when he was bundled up in his own soft blanket he sat beside her, stroking a finger down her delicate cheek, and watched her sleep until the day's activities took their toll on his body and he laid down to slumber next to her, one hand draped possessively around her.

**Author's Note:**

**I had originally planned for this chapter to be steamier, but with the direction that the gypsy camp took I didn't want to introduce more than making out. I am pleased with this chapter though, which is great because it's been rattling around in my head for months now. And now you finally know where Erik goes when he sneaks off in the middle of the night! As always, thanks for reviews, comments, and suggestions.**


	21. Consequences

**Disclaimer: Please see the prologue**

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 20**

**Consequences**

**Not Censored**

Madison floated in a sea of warm tranquility, interrupted only by the slight throb of her head. She settled into the blankets, warm against her smooth, bare skin as she turned into the warmth. The arm around her waist shifted slightly. She flexed her fingers, first one arm and then the other, but the one holding her lay still against her.

Consciousness stabbed through the pleasant haze of her awakening, and with the opening of her eyes the dull ache transformed into a splitting pain that made her gasp and clamp her eyes shut.

One, two, she counted as she looked at her hands, so to whom did the third arm belong to? She shifted, her blanket cocoon making the movement awkward and difficult, until she had turned on her side enough that she could crane her head to her left without explosions of pain.

It was Erik, swaddled in his own blanket but with one arm under his head and the other draped around her waist. His position had forced the blanket down and she could see his muscled arms and the beginning of his chest, the fine dark hairs lightly coating his skin.

Her heart leapt into her throat as she watched him sleep. Soft whinnies drew her attention from her study of him and she turned her head, looking for the source.

They were in a cave, the remnants of a fire a few feet from them with clothes laid out beside what was now a pile of ash with a few clumps of unburned wood fragments.

Her brow wrinkled in confusion, where had the clothes come from? And what was she doing sleeping on the floor with Erik, in a cave?

Her head swam and pounded fiercely as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. Despite her confusion she carefully picked his arm off of her and loosened the blankets, and looking down at herself discovered that she was as naked as the day she was born.

He shifted beside her, rolling closer to her. Madison panicked, trying to pull her blanket back over her nakedness only to find that he was lying on top of one corner, successfully trapping it. She studied his face which was slack with sleep and her own barely concealed nudity before turning her attention to her clothes, which were only a few feet from them.

Should she pull the blanket from his grasp and risk waking him, or quietly retrieve her clothing and dress before he awoke?

Light infiltrated the cave, the pre-dawn brightness erasing shadows and wakening forest creatures. She could not hesitate any longer; soon the light would wake him and make the decision for her. So Madison carefully withdrew from the soft, warm blanket and rose from the ground, careful to watch Erik for any sign that he was lucid, and crossed to her clothing. She picked up the items, her white cotton shift, her corset, skirt, and blouse, and tip-toed her way to the horses.

The chill in the air made her dress quickly, and though the clothing was still a bit damp it would have to do. As she was tying her skirt to her blouse and pulling out the worst of the wrinkles she heard the rustles of fabric and turned around, peeking around the corner to see Erik laying, still sound asleep, by the cooling ashes of the fire.

She turned her attention to their horses that were whickering softly for attention.

* * *

Erik cracked one eye as Madison shifted beside him in her sleep and repositioned his hand so that she could not roll away from him and off of the blanket they lay on. Her movements made the edge of the blanket slide down, revealing one bare, creamy shoulder.

He eyed the graceful curve of her neck and the way that her bones lay under the skin. He watched her as she began to wake, as her breathing quickened and eyes began to flutter, and feigned sleep.

He enjoyed the feel of his hand against her smooth stomach, could feel her through the thickness of the blanket, and when she made to rise he was caught up in moment of impulsivity. Erik shifted, rolling into her and grasping more of her, not wanting the stolen moment to end.

He was surprised when she rose anyway, when she carefully dislodged his hand and wriggled out of her blanket, the piece of wool that he had successfully trapped under himself so that she could not rise. But she was, and she was crossing the fire to their clothes. He risked being caught and cracked one eye open, barely managing to stifle a groan as he was rewarded with the view of her naked frame, kneeling down to recover her now dry clothes.

He had not looked at her the night before save to make sure that he had removed all of her wet clothes, but he could not force himself to look away. He watched her as she bent at the waist, reveled in the sight of the round globes of flesh that creased above her smooth thighs. He studied her quickly, noting the curve of her hips and waist and the soft expanse of her back, of the delicate curve of her arm as she grabbed her clothes and pressed them to her front.

He closed his eyes, the images burned onto his lids, and heard her cross to the other chamber for privacy. Risking one more glance he cracked an eye again and watched her retreat around the bend of the cavern's hallway, her naked form now gone from his sight.

He focused on his breathing so that he would not give himself away, but his body betrayed him and his morning erection hardened even more, if that was possible, as his mind replayed the last few minutes of 

the morning. He piled the blankets around himself so that if she entered it would not be so obvious, and continued to feign sleep.

* * *

They had saddled the horses and eaten a meager breakfast of slightly stale bread and tasteless water and were riding back to the house. They traveled in silence, both too embarrassed to speak but both wanting the terrible silence to be broken.

The sun rose steadily in the sky as they finally crossed the unmarked border of the Swift property. Madison's headache had subsided to a low throb behind her eyes, the sun making is worse so that she closed them and let Erik lead the way.

As her father's house came into view they picked up the pace, the horses eager to be back in their stables and Madison and Erik eager for a hot bath, a filling meal, and a soft bed.

Erik stretched his shoulders, trying to remove the kink that had settled in his muscles from sleeping on the rocky ground of the cave and rubbed one hand against the stubble on his face. He turned in his saddle and watched Madison as she dozed on her horse, swaying in the saddle.

When they were near enough to the house they heard the shouts of the servants at their arrival.

The stable master, Robert, took the reins of the horses and after Madison and Erik had dismounted, led the weary bests into the stable where they would be groomed and pampered. The pair was rushed inside where their presence was announced. Madison was hugged by many, and led to her bed chamber by Ummi, who scolded and soothed her repeatedly.

* * *

Madison rested her head against the cool edge of the porcelain bath tub and sighed. She had scrubbed herself pink, cleaned under her nails, and detangled her hair and now soaked luxuriously in the orange blossom scented water. Her headache, and the accompanying fuzziness, was finally gone and she could think clearly.

The only problem was that she could not remember a good bit of the past day. She remembered riding to the gypsy camps and talking with Alandro's mother, and drinking and laughing, but beyond that her memory was fuzzy at best and missing at worst.

She closed her eyes and rubbed them, hoping to inspire a vision of the last hours. She replayed her memory over and over in hopes of sparking something, anything, to explain why she had awakened naked as the day she was born, in a cave, and sleeping next to Erik.

Her hand drifted between her thighs as she explored herself. She had not woken with blood between her thighs, as Ummi had told her she would when it happened, and when her hand returned from its ministrations they were clear.

She leaned her head back against the rim and sighed. Now if only she could remember what had happened after she had gotten roaring drunk.

The water cooled and she was forced from her enjoyment, quickly drying off with a soft, fluffy towel and donning a clean chemise and pantalettes. She opened the door that joined her bathing chamber to her bed chamber and found Ummi waiting for her with a corset, corset cover, and a dark blue silk dress that was finer than what she wore on a daily basis.

Madison lowered her gaze, too ashamed to meet Ummi's eyes. But Ummi merely helped her dress, perhaps tightening her corset a little more than usual, with only the usual light talk between them.

Guilt ate at her until Madison forced herself to apologize, something that she did very rarely, and felt much better when Ummi grudgingly hugged her.

"I am truly sorry Ummi, I did not mean to break my word to you." She said beseechingly.

Ummi tsked and replied seriously, "I know that you didn't mean to, child, I know. But you did, and now that you're refreshed your father wants to speak to you in his study."

Madison blanched, dreading the reprimand that she was sure to receive, "how upset is he?" she asked.

Ummi balked, looking at her young charge incredulously, "you still don't understand what you did wrong, do you?" and shook her head, "oh he's mad enough to spit fire, mostly because of how worried he was. We thought you was dead in a ditch somewhere, or worse."

Madison lowered her head ashamed; she had scared her loved ones to panic and was worrying about being scolded? She deserved it, for acting so foolishly.

After Madison was dressed and thoroughly ashamed of herself Ummi led her to the study, partly to comfort her but mostly to make sure that she actually arrived.

When she entered the room her father and Erik were already seated, tension filled the room so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

Madison twisted her hand in the skirt of her dress, suddenly nervous and apprehensive.

She stood before their seated figures, waiting for her father to speak.

A moment passed slowly, and then he said "I hope that you enjoyed yourself for it is the last time that you will leave this house unescorted. Erik here has told me of your foolishness, you are very lucky that he arrived in time before the worst had happened. What have you to say for yourself?"

Madison paled even more, the pinpricking that preceded crying making her guilt worsen. "I do not have any defense, father. I acted foolishly with little thought to what my actions would do to you or Ummi. I am sorry." The pinpricking turned to the beginnings of tears as her eyes watered, the tears unshed.

"I am afraid that sorry will just not do, not this time." Her father responded.

"What do you mean?" she asked, bewildered.

He studied his daughter a moment, she was so young and naïve, sheltered, "your reputation is in tatters."

She gasped but was silenced by a wave of a hand. He continued, "we roused the neighbors and the servants so that they might search for you, news of your debacle will no doubt reach Raleigh and all of North Carolina before the month is out. You were gone, all night, un-chaperoned, and inebriated in the presence of men. You spent the evening in close quarters with a non-related man."

Madison interrupted him, "but father, nothing happened!"

He silenced her with an angry glance, "it does not matter is nothing happened, no one would believe us. Quite frankly, your reputation is ruined. You are very lucky, my dear, that Mr. Durmand here has decided to do the honorable thing and marry you."

Madison turned her gaze to Erik, who sat beside her father, his hands grasping the arms of the chair loosely, his face calm and unreadable. She swallowed the lump in her throat as the tears in her eyes receded along with their panic, she took a calming breath to steady her nerves and slow her suddenly erratic heartbeat.

Her father continued, seeming not to notice Madison's sudden compliableness, "A special license has already been sent for and your engagement will be announced at the ball in two weeks time. Do I make myself clear?"

She looked at her father, noting the weariness of his frame and the sad look in his eyes. He had truly been frightened for her, and she would not make it worse for him. Arguing would do no good; he merely sought to protect the family name and her now tarnished reputation. "Yes, father, I understand," was her reply.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that for Erik, a tension that she hadn't seen was released suddenly when his shoulders rounded slightly and his hands relaxed their grip on the chair. She bowed her head and left the room meekly, and she returned to her room. Ummi would want to know what had just happened, even though Madison did not quite understand it herself.

She had expected dread and horror at her engagement being forced upon her, instead butterflies fluttered in her stomach. He always made her feel this way, unsure and nervous but excited.

Perhaps a life with him would not be torturous. He certainly did wicked things to her body and made her feel things that she had only heard or read about.

As she placed her hand on her bedroom doorknob and began to turn it, a scene of a dark figure galloping to her on horseback in a raging storm flashed before her. Was it a dream or a memory?

She glanced back down the hallway at the study but could see nothing through the crack in the door.

And she was left wondering exactly what had happened last night, at the camp and then between her and Erik, and why she had awakened naked but untouched.

She shook her head to clear the cobwebs and turned the knob, Ummi was waiting for her.

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope that everyone has enjoyed the story so far. We are close to the ending, perhaps four or five more chapters to go! I want to know what everyone prefers, a long epilogue or a short sequel series? I also forgot to add in the last chapter a disclaimer, so here goes.**

**Like any group of people there are some bad seeds that ruin the image for the rest. Unfortunately, Alandro is one of these. I grew up around the gypsies who are for the most part a good but private people. The men and older boys traveled doing temporary work and the women and children stayed in their great big houses, raising babies and making goods like jewelry and pottery. Every Saturday the women and children would come into town, all dressed up with their make-up done and their hair poufy and curled (even the babies wore make-up and were curled up which looked very strange) and eat dinner or go to the movies. So for the most part they live normal lives, just a little more eccentrically. I hear wild stories growing up that if a girl needed money she could have one of the gypsy guy's babies and they would pay her for custody of it, but this is probably just a wild story. That's where the inspiration for Madison's failed abduction came from. I figured that he might try to seduce her and take her with them so that they can get some fresh blood into their gene pool. I have no idea if this ever happens but it sounded plausible. Hope I didn't offend anyone, it's fiction after all.**


	22. Understanding

**Disclaimer: Please see the prologue**

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 21**

**Understanding**

**Not Censored**

Madison placed a hand on her too tightly cinched waist, groaned, and twisted her torso to try to relieve the pressure from the piece of boning that was currently digging into her back.

Ever since her debacle Ummi had been a little distant, tightening her corsets tighter, with more force than necessary, and not stopping to talk.

She was currently hiding from Erik and her father by sitting scrunched up in a corner of the hay loft between the barn wall and a bale of dry straw, petting one of the calico cats that kept the tool barn free of rodents. They were moving her things into her new household, and Madison could not bear to watch the exchange.

She smiled as the cat purred and arched into his back into her hand, his tail wrapping around her wrist.

"You are just a silly little thing, aren't you?" she cooed to the animal, who meowed his response and rubbed his cheek against her knee.

She continued to pet him as her mind drifted off to other things.

Try as she might she just could not get the past week out of her mind, no matter how many hours stretched by, turning into days, she just could not understand how she had gotten herself into this situation.

How could she have been so naïve, have drunk so much that now she could not remember what had happened between him and she?

The floorboards creaked below her and Madison crawled from her hiding spot to carefully peek over the ledge and see the first floor of the barn. It housed tools and equipments, and of course the hay and straw, but at this time after harvest it was barely used. Instead the farmhands worked on restocking the supplies before the winter storms would begin.

There was no reason for anyone else to come here, so Madison let curiosity get the better of her and craned her head around a small block of straw.

Her hair tumbled free of the loose knot that she had tied it in, obstructing her view, and she moved to push it behind her ears.

It was Erik, of course, and Madison cursed her luck that the one person she could not talk to on today of all days was standing below her, surveying the barn, looking for her.

The cat, upset at the sudden loss of attention, began to sharpen his claws on her skirt, drawing a soft yelp from Madison when little claws caught the skin on her thigh.

She screwed her eyes shut, praying that he had not heard her and counted to ten as her heart pounded in her chest and she leaned back over the block of hay so that she could see the ground floor below her.

The floor was empty of any human presence, with no sign that he had ever been there at all, and she sighed in relief.

Sitting back against the hay she pulled her hair back, running fingers through the tangling locks, and screamed when a hand clamped on her shoulder. The cat jumped onto the nearest block of hay in surprise.

It was Erik, looking thoroughly amused at having caught her sulking, his amusement increasing as he saw the look on her face.

A lesser man would have withered at the sour look, but Erik was merely bemused.

"You move like a ghost, you know. How did you get up here?" she asked, "without me hearing you, I mean."

He settled beside her, one hand resting lightly on her knee, which Madison did not push away. He took it as a sign that whatever she was upset about, it was not with him.

"I am accustomed to moving silently. I was looking for you, everyone was. Your father wishes for you to know that your things have all been moved into your home, and that you should take your supper there tonight," he replied

He watched Madison as her mouth pursed and she glared at the bale of hay in front of her.

"We have not really had the chance to talk, about what happened four days ago, about the engagement…" he said, trailing off in sudden nervousness.

"I am not mad at you, if that is what you are wondering about, or with my father," she said without looking at him. Her chin tightened with sudden stubbornness as she continued to stare 

at the straw in front of her. The cat was no longer sitting atop it, having moved on in search of mice.

Erik's hand gripped her knee, his thumb rubbing soothing circles into the fabric of her brown and cream dress.

"I had worried," he admitted, "that you were upset with me. I have put you in the same situation as that the foolish farm boy did."

Madison shook her head, trying to shake away the beginnings of tears. "No," she protested, "I did, by running off to the gypsy camp without any thoughts of the repercussions. So no, I am not mad at you or father for doing the right thing, just at myself for acting like a ninny and tying you to me for the rest of our lives."

Erik's eyes widened, surely not, surely she was not upset for his own wellbeing. He could count on the fingers of one hand how many people had truly cared for him, and still have fingers left over.

He shifted, brushing his knees against hers and raising his left hand to caress the side of her face, which was suddenly downcast.

"After all this time, you still believe my intentions to be insincere," he said in sad wonderment, "silly girl, who wouldn't want to spend eternity with you?"

He raised her chin so that their eyes met, hers misting with melancholy tears as he laid a gentle kiss on the corner of her mouth.

She closed her eyes, her breath shuddering out in pent up frustration and confusion. A single tear trickled down her cheek as he moved his mouth to place a kiss on one eyelid, then the other.

Madison turned into him so that her legs curled up into him, atop his own, and filled a niche that she hadn't known was there. She raised one hand to press warm fingers against the cool leather of the mask.

A shudder ripped through him as she caressed it wonderingly, her eyes still closed. He half expected her to rip it from his face, as Christine had done, but she only touched it questioningly.

He curled his fingers around hers and gently pulled them away from his mask so that her hand rested in her lap, with his atop hers.

Her eyes were still closed, though the tear had dried and her chin was a little less stubborn, and then she opened them. And in hazel orbs he saw himself, reflected, and did not cringe, because the beginnings of love accompanied his image.

He couldn't believe it, but looking at her he knew that she returned his affection despite his many flaws. What had he done to possibly deserve her?

"Tonight, after dinner we will talk and clear the air between us, and I will tell you about my past, about the mask, and I will answer any questions that you have."

She nodded, slightly confused but willing to accept that in a few hours time he would explain everything.

He placed a chaste kiss against her soft mouth and left, with only one last, longing look over her shoulder as he disappeared behind a mound of straw.

She heard him climb down the ladder, the squeak of the rungs, and smiled because she knew that he could have left silently if he wished, and that he had done so for her.

* * *

Madison's things were in place, every shirt and undergarment neatly folded into cedar drawers, every dress hung with careful precision. Her toiletry items put into order on her new vanity table, the little padded chair tucked into it.

She surveyed the room. It had been decorated in warm cream and forest green, the plush carpet patterned with delicate cabbage roses. The curtains were dark green damask and pulled aside to let the setting sun bathe the chamber in golden tones, highlighting the mahogany furniture beautifully.

It was comfortable, unlike her old room which had been decorated in white and pink and gold. She smiled as she rubbed a hand against the wood of the bedpost, fingers trailing across the grain.

She had seen little of the two story house, only pausing in the hallway that led to her room, the master chamber, to glance at the paneled walls and brass gas lamps, before entering her new bed chamber.

Crossing the room to her vanity she picked up the cream and yellow pitcher and poured lukewarm water into the wash basin, splashing the water on her face and cleaning her hands. A little green wash cloth had already been laid out beside the basin, and after drying her face and hands she moved to the window to watch the setting sun.

A knock at the door broke her reverie as Ummi entered. Madison smiled, "I am so glad that you came with me, Ummi, I was a little afraid that you were still too upset with me to agree."

Ummi placed her hands on her hips, "lord, child, like I would ever let you out of my sight again." She tsked and shook her head, "cook wants to know if you'll be taking your supper in the dining room or want a tray sent up."

Madison thought a moment then grimaced, "I do not think that I could stand an empty table."

Ummi nodded understandingly, "I'll have Missy send a tray up in a moment. Mr. Durmand wanted word sent that he will arrive in an hour and wait in the library."

Madison nodded that she had heard and turned her attention back to the view outside the window.

The housekeeper turned to leave, one hand resting on the brass door knob, "Miss Madison," she began hesitantly, "I think you'll be happy with him, like I was with my husband, God bless his soul. For all the temper and mystery, I think he truly cares for you, if you don't mind me saying."

Madison smiled softly and replied, "I think so too."

Ummi returned the smile before exiting the room.

Madison sighed as the sink below the horizon.

A maid knocked and entered the room, placing the food tray on the side table in the corner, curtseyed, and left. Madison moved to the table, pulling out one of the delicately carved chairs and sitting she pulled the silver cover from the plate and smelled the aroma wafting from the platter.

Herb roasted chicken with seasoned red potatoes, steamed asparagus, and a fluffy roll smelled delicious.

She ate quickly, delighting in the wonderful food that the new cook had prepared and sank back into the chair, one hand resting on her full stomach as she sighed contentedly. Perhaps living on her own would not be so detestable with such good food.

Glancing at the small mantle clock told her that she had twenty minutes before Erik arrived. Madison leisurely sipped her nearly empty glass of cold lemonade, the last of the season, and basked in the comforting colors of the room.

By the time that she looked again at the small clock sixteen minutes had passed. She rose from the small table and covered her empty plate, placing her glass on the tray, and began the short trip to her new library, one of the first rooms that she had explored that day.

The maids were busily lighting the rest of the gas lamps as Madison walked down the hallway and staircase and slowly made her way to the library.

When she opened the door, expecting it to be empty, she was startled to see him already there and leaning against one of the bookcase lined walls.

"Do you like it?" he asked as one of his hands sought hers to bring her in for a quick kiss.

She sighed at the withdrawal of his lips and contented herself with looking up at him, "I do. Or at least, I like what I have seen so far."

He arched his right brow in surprise, "do you mean to tell me that my curious Madison has not yet explored every nook and cranny of her house?"

Madison let go of his hand and looped her arm around his back so that she pressed against him, "do you mean it?"

He grabbed her upper arms loosely, "do I meant what? That you are more curious than a cat? Yes, of course."

She shook her head and smiled, "no, you called me yours. Do you truly mean it?"

His smile turned perplexed, the grin fading into seriousness, "we are engaged to be married, Madison, yet you still are worried that I will vanish into thin air."

She looked away, eyes hooded, "I have always been surrounded by people who remain at a distance. My mother died when I was born, my father was lost, he did not know how to deal with the screaming infant who was suddenly dependent entirely upon him. As soon as I outgrew governesses I was sent off to boarding school where no one understood me. My closest companion is the servant who raised me, and Ummi is too well-mannered to break the social constraints except every now and then. Even my friend James, the farm boy that you hate so much, I kept at a distance because we want such different things in life."

Her eyes met his and she continued, "to be completely honest I have always felt a little alone, which is most likely why I became so unruly and headstrong, I was too used to relying upon myself that I could not accept the advice of others. They could not understand me, so why should I have listened?"

Erik met her gaze without interrupting, allowing her to continue.

"And then you came along and changed everything. You talked to me, and more importantly, listened to what I had to say without writing me off as a silly child with fantastical whims. I think that you have ruined me, Erik, for any other man, and I am so afraid that one day you will leave and I will be alone again, only it will be worse because I will know what I am missing."

He splayed his hands against her arms, fingers rubbing the flesh, and craned his head down to capture her mouth in a firm, possessive kiss before breaking away.

"Never," he replied, "never will I, could I, leave you for as long as you want me to stay. But you still do not understand, how could you…" he trailed off.

She pulled her arm from holding his back and laid her hands against his chest, feeling the strong muscles beneath. "Then make me understand."

He nodded and pulled away from her, moving them to the two leather chairs that sat in an alcove of the library with only a small round table between them.

She gripped the arm of the chair, nails digging slightly into the light brown leather, as he told his story.

"I was born with an affliction to my face, the right half of course, which I cover with the mask. My mother could not stand me, and when she was going to send me away I decided to leave on my own terms, and ran away instead," he began.

Madison uttered only a few words as he related the struggles of his life to her, of the unloving mothers, the torturous living with the gypsies who used and abused him, his escape and travels as a magician to Eastern Europe and Asia. He told her an incomplete version of his time with the Khanum, leaving out his role as executioner, told her of the Daroga and his poor son whom he helped kill, and his narrow escape from Persia.

He explained his move to France, the country of his birth, and his renovations of the opera house basement. She gasped and nodded at the correct parts of the story, her hands resting firmly on the chair arms.

Erik hesitantly told her of Christine, how he had been drawn to her, taught her to sing, and then had been rejected for the viscount. He excluded his worst moments, not telling her about the fire from the chandelier, or nearly killing Raoul and the Daroga in his torture chamber; did not tell her about murdering the innocent Piangi, or the less innocent Josef Bouquet.

And when he was done he sank back into the chair, a weight lifting from his chest, as she sat calmly in her own chair and contemplated what he had just revealed to her.

After a moment had passed along with the threat of tears over his plight Madison rubbed her eyes and glanced at the grandfather clock that sat in an adjacent alcove. Two hours had passed.

When she returned her gaze to him she noticed that he was waiting for a response. "I can not begin to imagine what you must have felt, Erik, running from people all those years, or having them run from you. I hope that humanity is not so stupidly ignorant for much longer, to run in fear from a simple affliction."

Erik hung his head. He had hoped to avoid this, at least tonight, for telling the story had left him feeling raw, but as much as she tried she still did not truly understand. She still did not comprehend why his life had been so terrible, he would have to show her.

"Madison, if you can stand it I would like to show you my face before I press the matter of our engagement any further."

Her eyes met his unwaveringly as she nodded her agreement. He rose from his chair and pulled her with him so that they were standing together.

He grasped her hands and raised them to his face, his eyes closing, as he led her fingers to the thin wire that held the white molded leather to his face.

She laid her right palm against the unscarred side of his face as she swallowed the lump in her throat, and with her left hand, peeled the mask from his face.

He heard her intake of breath and felt the cool rush of air against his face, and then a soft brush of trembling fingers.

He clamped his eyes shut even more as she tentatively explored him, feeling the ridges of flesh around his eye and the leathery skin of his cheek.

It was all he could do to stop from sobbing in relief as she did not scream or cry or push him away.

Instead, she studied what others had abhorred. His eyes flew open in surprise as she pulled his head down and laid one soft kiss against the left, untouched side of his face, and then the other, scarred one.

He met her gaze as hope filled his chest until he thought that his heart would burst.

"You are still my Erik," she told him, and silenced his sob of relief with a tender kiss against his complacent mouth.

The mask slipped from her hand and fell with a soft thump to the ground, and was forgotten as he wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss.

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, school caught up with me between finals and papers and projects. So, I made it a little longer than usual. I'll try to get the next chapter up by Sunday night, but now that this hurdle has been passed it may be sooner. No promises, though. Just wanted to say thanks for all of the reviews, especially the ones that offer great constructive criticism. I hope this chapter helped the character development for Madison since it was pointed out that she was getting a little flat. I don't know how many more chapters it's going to be, maybe three or four more longish ones and then an epilogue. Thanks to everyone who is reading, especially to those who are reviewing!**


	23. Rooms

**Disclaimer: Please see the prologue.**

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 22**

**Rooms**

**Not Censored**

_He met her gaze as hope filled his chest until he thought that his heart would burst._

"_You are still my Erik," she told him, and silenced his sob of relief with a tender kiss against his complacent mouth._

_The mask slipped from her hand and fell with a soft thump to the ground, and was forgotten as he wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss._

Madison gripped the sides of his face, one hand's fingers splayed against the beginnings of the red, raised tissue, as their mouths pressed against each others to convey the depths of their emotions. It was worse than she had imagined, but not so terrible as some of the wounds that the young men had returned with from the war.

She was glad now that she had steeled herself not to flinch, for after the first moment of shock it really was not such a bad sight, merely different than she had expected. She knew instinctively that he would not welcome pity, so she did not offer any.

And if the way that he was now kissing her was any measure of her success, then she had reacted in the best way possible.

Her foot knocked against the forgotten mask as he drew her closer, hands moving to tangle in her hair, until they were forced to part for breath.

She leaned her head against his chest for a moment, breathing in the scent of him and sighing in contentment before he broke the embrace and wordlessly picked up the mask, pressing it to his flesh and clipping the wire in place.

"Now what?" she asked quietly, her hands capturing his shirt playfully. Erik smiled before capturing her hands in his and leading her to the door, "now I show you your new home, mademoiselle." As they walked down the hallway to the front entryway Madison wondered at the word he had chosen, home instead of house. Could this be her new home, with him? Her lips curved into a smile.

At the front corridor he showed her the sitting parlor, decorated in pale peach and white with little settees and mahogany tables, lush carpets, and one of her watercolor landscapes of a spring meadow hanging on the far wall, opposite the large double paned windows.

Next was the den, which was set conveniently near the parlor. The walls were dark panels of wood, and the chairs leather wingbacks. The only other furniture a cabinet filled with cut crystal decanters and stoppered bottles for brandy and other spirits. Although elegant and beautiful it, like the parlor, was not very unique. Madison's brow creased slightly.

Erik led her from that room and across the hallway, into the dining room, which was dominated by the large wooden twelve seater table and chairs and the brilliant chandelier that hung above it, and through the serving doors into the kitchen.

A scullery maid who had been scrubbing the last of that dinner's pots quickly finished her task, dried her hands, and scurried from the room. While large it too was not spectacular. Madison's brow creased slightly more.

While she had not made extravagant plans for these mundane but necessary rooms the complete normality of them worried her that perhaps he had not understood her ideas as well as he had let on.

She gazed up at him questioningly only to receive a knowing look in return. "Do you wish your guests to know the wonders of your house?"

She shook her head, some of the tension easing from her and allowed him to grab her hand and pull her to inside the cupboard.

The close confines pushed them together, and while Madison loved to kiss and caress him, and be kissed and caressed in return, she was not in that sort of mood while her house's uniqueness was in question.

He merely smiled, irritatingly and knowingly, and raised her hand, held in his, to one of the shelves. Her brow knitted in confusion as he pressed her index finger against a knot in the grain of the wood and the column of shelves swung open slowly to reveals a dark stone corridor.

She gasped in surprise and looked at him over her shoulder and said, "clever man," playfully.

His hands gripped her hips and for a moment she thought that perhaps she was not as out of that mood as she had thought she was, and then he urged her into the dark corridor, following quickly behind her.

Madison turned, in the sudden pitch black dark, and reached out for him as he shut the hidden pantry door behind them. "You should have brought a lantern," she scolded.

He shook his head, then realized that she would not be able to see it in the dark and voiced his response, "no, you need to learn where to press without any light, so that if you ever need to use it in a hurry you can find it without one."

His reasoning made sense so she allowed him to once again grasp her hand and lead her fingers to the hidden lever. Once she had learned the spots to press he led her up the narrow stone stairs to the top of the passageway.

After showing her the spy hole to make sure that the room was unoccupied he again led her fingers blindly to the hidden lever that opened the passageway into her bathing room through the towel cabinet.

She smiled widely as he demonstrated how to activate the latch that held the cabinet against the wall, swinging it open, then shutting it. He led her from her bathing room into her bed chamber and to her door that let out into the upstairs hallway.

She blushed, he had never been in her bed chamber before, then chided herself because he had built it and had surely been in the room a hundred times. It felt different this time, however, and she let him lead her from the room without a sound.

Once in the hallway she let him show her the other rooms that she had been too tired to explore. They were the rooms that they had planned together, the oval sitting room with the curved doorways, the solarium that was somehow more window than wall, the small hallway that emptied out in closets, which actually turned out to be more hidden passageways, and the small, unfurnished room that could be turned into a nursery.

He showed her the guest bed chambers, the master suite with its own separate bathing chamber, and stopped her at the alcove in the main upper level hallway. She noticed the large, lovely landscape in its gilded frame and the gas lamps on the wall beside and cast a questioning glance to Erik.

He smiled devilishly at her quirked brow, "there is another hidden passageway here, in the alcove, can you find it?" and chuckled to himself as she explored the walls, twisting the gas lamps and pressing the carved flowers on the picture's frame to no avail.

Her mouth pursed in playful anger as his grin widened and he placed a hand against the edge of the actual painting, and pushed inwards.

Soundlessly it moved, revolving in the middle of the frame, and revealed the way behind it. Scanning the hallway to ensure that no maids were nearby he helped her climb up through the painting and followed, closing it behind them.

This time he did pull the matchbook from his pants pocket and struck one match to light the gas lantern that lay on a small table by the entry way, for just that purpose. Light filled the room as he turned the knob on the lantern and set it on the table.

Madison studied the small room that held a small bookcase next to a chair and end table, an easel and stool for her to paint on, and a small cabinet for her supplies. There was a large round window that in the day would bathe the room in light, but now allowed only a small glimpse at the night sky's stars.

She turned, tears misting her eyes as she clasped her hands in front of her mouth.

"Do you like it?" he asked nervously, "I built this so that you would have a place to retreat, undisturbed. No more hiding in barn lofts…"

She dropped her hands to reveal a smile and threw her hands around his neck, burying her face into his chest. "I love it," she said into his shirt, "I love everything about the house. Thank you Erik, it is everything and more than I wanted it to be."

He smoothed one hand down her back, marveling in the fact that she was here with him, willingly, even after seeing him unmasked. Life with Madison, he surmised, would be full of surprises.

"I am glad then, but the tour is not done for I have saved the best for last."

Checking that the hallway was clear through a removable panel in the painting's frame he pushed against the back of the landscape and stepped through into the hallway.

Quietly they made their way down the hallway and staircase, past a maid who looked at them curiously, and down the other end of the first floor hallway to the end. "The ballroom, the heart of the house" he announced as his hand pushed the latch on the double French doors and opened one.

Madison gasped, it was unbelievable, so much more, better, than the mirrored hall of Versailles which she had wanted replicated. The entire room was mirrored, all six sides, and the floor, an endless reflection of the ceiling mural. Bright blue sky with puffy clouds of white and every color and sweet cherubs made it look like you walked in heaven rather than on mirrors.

She twirled, watching her reflection in the walls and smiled broadly. "Oh Erik, it's perfect!"

A hundred Eriks embraced a hundred Madisons as he drew her into his arms and dipped his head towards hers. "I am glad that you are pleased."

She nodded and closed the distance between their mouths, showing him the extent of her pleasure by wrapping her arms around his torso and darting her small, pink tongue into his mouth.

Their tongues intertwined, exploring each other's mouth, tasting. His hands dropped from the small of her back to her buttocks, grabbing one globe of flesh in each hand and pressing her wriggling frame against his own taut one.

They stayed like that a moment longer before Madison eased back from him and he released his inappropriate hold on her.

"I see that you have been reading my book," he teased her, grinning at her deep blush.

"So it was you who left it," she accused. His grin widened, "unless you have some other lover leaving you indecent reading material?"

Her blush faded to an attractive pink as she was suddenly serious, "only you."

He nodded at her sentiment and repeated it, "only you, Madison, always you."

**Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who is reviewing on ff . net and aff . net, I really appreciate it! Many chapters ago I asked for help coming up with crazy rooms, but didn't get any replies. So if the rooms seem a little bland let me know and give me suggestions and I will not only add them, but also give you credit in the edited chapter. Yay! And things will get steamier between Erik and Madison in the next few chapters.**


	24. Town

**Disclaimer: Please see the prologue**

**A New Beginning**

**Ch. 23**

**Town**

**Not Censored**

Madison awoke in her new bed, excited, and threw the covers from her body. Today they would travel the four hours it took to get to town, which normally would have been an exhausting, daunting thing, but was now exhilarating because Erik would be accompanying her, to have a fitting for the gown for the engagement ball.

She made a mental list of the shops that she would need to visit, the seamstress who was finishing the already in progress dress, of course, along with the cobbler and the milliner. She would also need new gloves…

Her hands flew to the hem of her long night shift, pulling the soft material over her head and flinging the used garment onto the bed. She stood naked and slightly shivering in the cool November air, for the night's fire had died away hours ago leaving only faintly glowing ashes.

The hairs on her arms stood up as her nipples pebbled and she crossed to her vanity, pouring warm water from the pitcher that a maid had left for her moments before, and into her washbasin. Splashing the water on her face and upper torso she used one of the green towels to dry herself.

She opened the wardrobe and donned black silk stockings, attaching them to a garter belt, and pulled a fresh shift over her head, tucking it into white pantalets that tied over the stockings and ended just below her knees.

The corset was difficult to manage on her own but since the trip would be long and she did not want it tight she slipped it on herself without calling for a maid. Practice had taught her to loosen the stays and hook it around herself, then to hole one crossing of laces while pulling the next until it was tight but not unbearable.

She opened a drawer and selected a high-collared white shirt waist blouse with tiny mother of pearl buttons and Belgian lace cascading down the front, and over her hands. From another drawer she donned a dark blue pleated skirt that hugged her hips before slightly flaring down to the floor.

She smiled at herself in the mirror, smoothing down a wrinkle in the lace, and pulled a bell pull, ringing for a maid to fix her hair.

* * *

Erik pulled out his pocket watch for the third time in as many minutes and scowled to himself. What was taking her so long? When he agreed to escort her to the city for her appointment with the dressmaker; he had not thought that it would become an all-day affair, but with the minute hand creeping up to the tenth hour, he surmised that not only would this trek become an all-day event, but that it would also carry-over into the next.

And that meant that his surprise would be forced to wait another full day, if not two. He scowled as the second hand ticked on, oblivious of his seething ire, and he shut the silver pocket watch and tucked it back into his vest pocket.

He turned in the hallway and began to pace, keeping his eyes on the staircase and when he had turned for the seventh time and was about to begin the walk from the front door to the edge of the stairs he heard a door shutting and footsteps shuffling down the carpeted upper hallway.

His hands fidgeted with the edge of his silver wool vest and his crisp white shirt before stuffing the offending appendages into the side pockets of his black trousers.

She was beautiful, her hair upswept into a graceful golden knot, a few small strands framing her face. The skirt hugged her full hips deliciously, displaying the evidence of her lusciously curved frame as his eyes traveled up from her hips to her narrow waist, to the widening rib cage and her full bosom. She paused at the top of the stairs, one hand resting lazily on the banister as a smile curved her mouth teasingly and she descended one painfully slow step at a time.

His breath hitched, as it always did when he saw her and he pulled his nervous hands from his pockets, suddenly aware that he looked foolish with his mouth hanging open.

"We're going to be late," he said more sternly than he had intended to and winced.

She stopped on the last step, smile narrowing just a bit as her hand gripped the rail, "but surely it was worth it?"

He nodded and extended a hand to her, "of course," he recovered, "you are more beautiful than ever. Shall we go, then?"

She nodded, smile brightening, and left her hand encased in his as they left the house and climbed into her father's carriage. A maid was waiting inside, the chaperone for their excursion into town, and motioned for Madison to sit beside her on the narrow padded bench.

The carriage started with a small lurch once Madison was seated beside the maid, and Erik opposite her, and Robert led the horses down the road to town.

Except for the occasional jerk or bump from a dip in the road the carriage swayed gently as minutes passed the hour mark and the maid drifted to sleep beside Madison.

The sun was nearing its zenith as Madison looked up from the small book that she held before her, to discover that Erik was silently watching her.

She closed the book, one hand holding it against her thigh, and quirked a brow in silent question.

"I love to watch you read, every emotion crosses your features with each turn of the page," he said earnestly.

Madison smiled in response, "I am glad then, for you will have a very long time to watch me read, Erik." Her smile turned impish as he held a hand out towards her and pulled her to sit beside him, one arm remaining around her waist.

"I certainly hope so," he replied as he dropped his hand to her silk clad thigh and tilted her head back into a firm kiss.

Her mouth yielded to his as she wrapped her hands, still clutching the small book, around his neck and shifted so that her leg bent between his and the distance closed between them.

A flash of memory of a cold night in a dark, fire-lit cave and passionate kisses and caresses crept into her consciousness until she was not sure if she was only now remembering a forgotten event or dream.

She moaned softly as his tongue parted her lips and snaked its way inside her mouth, exploring and tasting as one hand pressed against her back and the other gripped her thigh.

He tasted like jam and tea from the morning's breakfast, which delighted Madison as she eagerly explored him, reveling in the feel of his tongue against hers as his hands kneaded her flesh and an ache awoke inside of her.

When he released her from his grasp he cast a glance towards the still sleeping maid, Madison's chaperone, and smiled wickedly. A protector of his betrothed's innocence, indeed.

Madison sank back against the padded wall of the carriage and sighed as she straightened her blouse and tried to pull out the heaviest of the wrinkles.

Erik's musings over the frustrating out datedness of chaperones were broken when Madison asked him a question that he thought she never would, especially not since days had passed.

"What happened in the cave, Erik?"

He was startled, it showed in the abrupt neutrality that slid like another mask over the visible portion of his face, and then his eyes narrowed in bemusement as he replied, "you mean that you do not remember seducing me, and professing me to be the center of your world?"

Madison's eyes widened in shock until she saw his barely contained amusement, at her expense, then narrowed in half-false sternness. "I did not," she protested and drew back from him, crossing her arms against her chest.

"You did, you said that you would surely die without me, without my touch, I believe those were your exact words."

Her mouth contorted into a moue of chiding consternation, then softened as his arm crept around her torso and drew her close.

She was stiff in the embrace, then softened against him as his hands rubbed over her back. Looking away embarrassed she explained, "I remember bits and pieces, and more each day, but there are still missing pieces. I know that we did not… I mean, that I am still… but short of that I am not certain about what we did or said, and I do not like the not knowing."

One of his hands drifted up her back to rub circles on her neck. She shivered at the sensation and closed her eyes as he began to knead the top of her back and shoulder.

"You are trying to distract me, and it will not work, Erik," she told him, even as her eyes were closing and her lips parted slightly in contentment.

And when his ministrations would not stop she pulled away from him with a groan of disappointment, already wishing to be back in his embrace, and turned from him so that she might regain her composure. She looked out the little window on the side of the carriage wall and counted the trees that they passed, trying to stamp out the desire that seemed so easy to conjure but impossible to banish as long as he kept touching her.

His hand snaked around her waist, palm pressing against her bellybutton as he pulled her back into his chest. Her arm lifted to lay on his, around her waist, and as Erik shifted on the padded bench he moved to wrap his arm around her more and brush a faint kiss on the junction of her neck and shoulder, his arm brushed against the side of her breast.

Small shivers wracked her tingling frame at the faintest of caresses, feeling the pressure through layers of fabric and clothing, she grasped his arm to hold it in place when he would have moved away. The feel of his strong arm against such a delicate part of her body, even through the silk and cotton, wracked her spin with tingling chills. "What happened?" she questioned breathily.

He kissed the side of her neck between words, "we kissed," kiss, "and," kiss, "held each other," kiss, "and I," kiss, "kept you warm," kiss, "and we slept." He punctuated the sentence with a gentle bite on the junction of her neck, his hand moving to roam across her rib cage in lazy loops, fingers barely brushing against the underside of her breasts.

Heat throbbed between Madison's legs in a maddening painful-pleasure, nearly making her forget the sleeping maid before them.

"And after, when you and my father talked without me, what did you speak of?"

Erik grew bolder, moving the hand that had stilled on her abdomen up, dangerously up to her full bosom as the other reached forward to rest heavily on her thigh. The way that he was sitting prevented him from pulling her firmly on his lap, which was probably a good thing since he might not be able to resist ravishing her, maid or no maid, if their little foreplay went any further.

"After we returned and alerting the neighbors and servants to cease searching, the question of your, how shall I say, honor, was brought into question. I told the truth, that I had arrived in time to save you, and that nothing illicit had destroyed your virtue, but the damage had already been done.

It was your housekeeper, surprisingly, who demanded the betrothal, which seemed to appease your father after a moment of deliberation."

Madison turned in the embrace, his arms around her suddenly slack, to look him in the eyes. "I am truly sorry that I forced you into this situation, Erik, I need you to know that I did not plan for this…."

He raised a finger to her lips, silencing her, "do not be, after all, they did not need to argue very much to convince me, since I had already desired for your hand."

She looked at him, mouth curving in a pleasant smile that brightened her face, "you did? Just my hand?" she asked teasingly.

Erik tilted her head to the side and kissed her jaw, "and you body," grazed his mouth along her jaw to her chin, "and your mind," and then the corner of her mouth, "and your lips, especially your lips," and captured her sensuous mouth in a passionate kiss that stole her breath away.

They pulled apart just as the maid stirred slightly from a forceful dip of the carriage wheel in a rut in the road.

Madison slid away from him with a playful smile to the proper distance on the small bench. The maid stirred, sitting up and blinking bleary eyes.

Erik took out the silver pocket watch from his vest pocket; it would be another hour until they reached the city.

* * *

Madison sighed as she sailed into her bed chamber, the Lane room, at the Oakwood Inn in the heart of fashionable Raleigh. They had arrived only moments before and been ushered up the grand stairs by the lovely hostess, an older woman with a cheerful disposition, to the correct bed chambers. Erik would be staying in the room directly beside hers as the hostess explained, and the servants in the staff quarters on the main floor.

The maid, Sarah, followed along with Robert who was bringing her valises into the room and worked on putting Madison's clothing and toiletries away as soon as all of the baggage was accounted for.

She gravitated to the window that let out to the balcony, opening the pretty French doors and stepping out onto the railed patio. People and carriages were traveling up and down both sides of the street, an errand boy ran past in a hurry nearly knocking over a strolling couple, who shot the smudge-faced boy an incredulous look.

She could smell the smoke from household fires, the manure from the passing horses, and the faint sweat of honest work, followed by sweet floral scents from a neighboring garden.

Even as her nose crinkled from the odd mixture of smells, she smiled. She was in the city, with Erik, and a heavy purse burning a hole in her dress pocket.

"Would you like to change your clothing, miss?" Sarah asked, pulling Madison's attention from the busy city street.

"Yes, I think the green dress will do nicely. And my corset will need to be re-tied."

Sarah nodded and pulled the light green wool dress from the dresser drawer, smoothing out the creases as best she could.

Madison abandoned the balcony, and its view, and after pulling the pretty curtains closed she began to unfasten the tiny row of mother of pearl buttons at her throat.

After she had changed to less wrinkled clothing Madison patted the reticule that was safely tucked away in a pocket and carefully pinned a brown and green hat onto her hair, mindful of the complicated up-do, and closed her door behind her, turning down the hall to Erik's, to knock.

Seconds passed, then minutes as Madison knocked again and tapped her foot in exasperation. He was not there, but had not told her that he was leaving, which irritated her.

She refused to let his unintentional slight delay her appointment with the dress maker and with Sarah trailing after her she glided gracefully down the stairs and out the front door to hail a hack for the short trip to the dressmaker's shop.

They passed rows of slim houses, flower pots and tiny gardens adding color to the red bricks, and she made a note of the location of a quaint book shop, the novels carefully displayed in the window, as they made their way to the dress shop.

When they had arrived Madison and Sarah stepped down from the hack and paid the man his fare, with extra if he agreed to wait the hour or so it would take for the fitting. He agreed, and the two women entered the small but luxuriously decorated shop.

She was greeted by rows upon rows of bolts of fine fabric, everything from satins and silks to linen and wool, and a pretty brunette shop girl who ushered them in and showed them to the back.

The fitting room was small, with only a small stool and a curtain, which Madison studied as the assistant left to retrieve her dress.

Once the dress had been pulled from its perfumed box, Madison stepped behind the curtain and raised her arms as Sarah swiftly undid the row of black buttons down her back and helped remove and carefully fold her green day dress.

Sarah picked up the neatly folded half-finished dress and eyed it, "miss, you had best turn back around, we'll need to tighten your corset a bit."

Madison craned her head to take in the dress and nodded, grapping a hold of a handle on the wall, and bracing against the sharp tugs that cinched her waist smaller than she usually tied it.

She let out a shaky breath and nodded, it was tight but not unbearable, and held up her arms as the maid carefully helped her dress.

Once the buttons had been buttoned, the hooks hooked, and the ties tied Madison stepped carefully from behind the curtain. The head dress maker smiled warmly at her.

"You have truly outdone yourself, Madame," Madison told the dressmaker as she studied herself in the full-length mirror.

The gown was gold, a tight bodice with a sweetheart neckline and small cap sleeves, it hugged her waist, ending in a low, narrow point, and flowed over her hips into a slightly flared trumpet that trailed on the ground.

The embroidered flowers covered the bodice, spreading in ropes of flowers and leaves onto the skirt where delicate crystal beads had been sewn into the decoration, and gold French lace edged the hem.

She looked exquisite with her burnished gold hair, hazel eyes, and the golden dress that hugged her curves and made her feel delicate.

Madison smiled fondly, smoothing one hand over the silk fabric and lace, as the dress maker and her assistant corrected the small bustle and hemmed the train.

The modiste looked up at her customer once the last pin had been stuck into place "lovely, just lovely dear. All eyes will be on you at the ball. You may take the gown off now."

Madison nodded, "when will it be done? The ball is a sennight from tomorrow."

The woman nodded, "you may have it picked up tomorrow evening; it will be finished then. Now, please change and leave the gown on the stool."

She moved behind the curtain and lifted her arms as Sarah undid the row of cloth covered buttons, undid the laces, and carefully removed the gown from her mistress's frame.

After she had dressed they moved to the front of the shop where Madison surveyed the fabric selection while the shop girl rang up the price of the soon to be finished ball gown.

"That will be twelve dollars and twenty-six cents, miss, would you like to pay now or settle your accounts later?"

Madison fetched her reticule from the pocket of her dress and counted out the correct number of bills and coins. "I will settle now, thank you. And I would like to discuss the selection of a new gown, for my wedding, if Madame has the time today."

The shop girl nodded and placed each bill and coin into its proper slot in the brass cash register, then excused herself to duck into the backroom just as two fashionably young women, one of whom Madison vaguely remembered from that wretched finishing school, entered the shop. The bell announced their presence by chiming prettily. Madison smiled politely as they stared at her curiously from behind the bolts of linen.

Madison took the time to wander the small shop, fingering the silks and satins and the almost sheer charmeuse, only looking up at the sounds of stifled laughter, to catch the two young women look away abruptly. The muscles in her back tightened and her jaw clenched as she refused to be embarrassed in front of these twittering nit wits. Apparently news of her debacle had indeed made it all the way into town.

"Congratulations are in order, dear," the modiste said as she pushed through the thick curtain that separated the back from the front of the store and moved to stand beside Madison, "I would love to make your wedding dress. Will there, ah, be a rush?"

Madison clasped her hands in the folds of her dress and counted to five, taking a deep breath, or as much as her cinched corset would allow, with each number. She refused to fuel the gossip about her by acting childish and making a scene. She had, after all, gotten herself into this mess in the first place.

She tried to convince herself that it was only natural for the dress maker to ask such a question for a girl whose reputation had been ruined, especially when said girl had spent the night unchaperoned with an unmarried, non-related male.

So she counted to five and unclenched her finger, pasting a strained smile on her face, "no, Madame, there is no rush. In fact, I believe that we will have a long engagement, so you will have many months to perfect the gown." Her voice was honeyed and light with only the barest hint of anger as she cast a cool glance at the girls, who were trying very hard not to look up from the fabric that they were fingering.

"Very good then," the modiste replied with a hint of chagrin, "let us look at some patterns, then."

Madison followed the dressmaker to the small table and sat on one of the small wooden chairs, Sarah standing politely behind her, as she and the modiste poured over the fashion plates from New York, London, and Paris.

And a considerable amount of time later they had agreed upon the pattern and embroidery. Madison cast a glance around the shop, the girls were gone and replaced by an older woman who was chatting merrily with the shop girl, thanked the modiste for her time, and exited the shop.

The hack was waiting and soon Madison and Sarah were tucked away inside the carriage and heading towards the next clothing shop. She would need new gloves, white and past the elbows, to complete the ball gown.

**Author's Note: Sorry for the lateness, life caught up with me. Hopefully you will get the next chapter by Monday night. I promise that some more steaminess is headed your way and had actually planned to have it in this chapter but as it is, it's already pretty long and I don't want to make you guys wait any more. I have pictures of the dresses, here is the address to the ball gown http: /www .fashionmuseum .co .uk /userImages /virtualTour /moc5t. jpg without the spaces of course. I had a very wicked thought pop into my head, what would happen if Raoul and Christine heard about Erik's engagement while on a second honeymoon in America, and decided to ride to the "poor girl's" rescue? What do you guys think? And thanks to all of the help with the rooms, I will be editing chapter 22 to add in an inside garden room, which several people suggested, by the next update. Everyone who listed that room idea will get a shout out. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story!**


	25. Apologies

**Disclaimer: Please see the prologue**

**Chapter 24**

**Apologies**

**Censored**

**Author's Note: If you are old enough and enjoy detailed scenes of intimacy I strongly recommend reading this chapter on www . adultfanfiction . net under the same story title.**

Madison was glad to be back in her room at the inn. After visiting the seamstress, the glove shop, and a ready to wear clothing shop she was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to collapse into a steaming bath and relax.

Sarah stored away Madison's packages against the far wall and helped her undress, then excused herself and hurried off to her own room.

The gas lamps had been lit for hours, bathing her chamber in a warm glow. She crossed the room to check her window, it was locked, and pull the curtains together, then moved into the attached, private bathing chamber and drew herself a bath.

She sat on the edge of the white garden tub and trailed a hand in the hot, flowing water. Indoor plumbing like this was a luxury she was rarely afforded at their country house where maids could pump water from the indoor cistern, but would still have to heat it over a stove.

While the tub was filling she re-entered her temporary bed chamber and opened one of the boxes of packages. Among the necessary undergarments that she had purchased was a new night shift, a more elegant version of her normal clothing.

She fingered the fabric, soft silk that was woven loosely and nearly transparent and would slide over her curves. Madison fingered the blue silk bow that ran between the holes in the lace at the collar and smiled. Setting it down on the bed she crossed back into her private bathroom, and seeing that the tub was full and hot she turned the knobs and began to undress.

With a gentle tug she undid the corset laces at her back and breathed in a sigh of relief, then unclasped the front steel hooks and shrugged her shoulders out of the straps, laying the garment on a small chair. Putting both hands in the waistband of her pantalets she pushed them down and stepped out of them, letting it pool at her feet as she sat on the edge of the porcelain tub and unhooked her stockings from her garter belt and slid the silk material down her thighs, then calves, and that feet.

She folded them and placed them on top of the corset on the chair. The half shift that came to the bottoms of hips was next, along with the garter belt, and then she stood naked in the bathing chamber.

Her reflection in the mirror caught her attention, and Madison paused and surveyed her frame. Her waist was small compared to her full hips and large chest and she ran a hand down one breast, stopping 

to tease the dusty pink nipple that was suddenly erect, and then the underside of the breast, as Erik had earlier that day. It smoothed down her soft stomach and abdomen to caress her thigh, barely brushing the tuft of hair between her legs and the sensitive skin that it covered.

And as she surveyed her frame and her ivory pale skin she wondered if Erik would like the way she looked, her large breasts that hung heavy from her chest and her not so flat stomach.

She shook her head to clear these thoughts from it and pulled the pins from her hair, letting the dark gold tresses tumble down her back, then stepped one foot carefully, then the other, and sank slowly into the hot water. Once she had cleaned her hair and skin she sank back down into the now cooling water to enjoy the last few minutes of warmth. Her thoughts drifted to the days occurrences.

In every shop she had been met with whispers that stopped when she turned to find the source, and a few times even outright, malicious laughter with looks aimed her way. She had expected to become the talk of the town, but a small bit of her had hoped that news of her debacle would have died away for fresher gossip. Apparently, however, nothing more scandalous as her late night adventure at the gypsy camp had surfaced.

She cringed and tried not to cry even as she felt the prickling sensation that heralded tears and splashed the now cool water on her face. Unstopping the drain she rose from the bath and toweled herself dry, patting her damp hair and running fingers through the tangled waves.

Madison turned to retrieve her new night shift and realized that she had left it on the bed, and wrapping the pale blue towel around her nakedness she opened the bathroom door and peeked into her room. It was empty.

With her back to the curtained window she dropped the towel to the floor and pulled the clean shift over her head, smoothing the fabric into place and pulling her long, damp hair from out of the fabric.

A slight breeze chilled the water droplets that made the gown cling to her skin and Madison paused, she had closed the window, hadn't she?

She padded lightly over to the closed curtains and yanked them aside, to lock the window, and seeing the dark figure of a tall man standing there, she screamed.

A hand shot out of the darkness to cover her mouth, and another to grasp her arm.

"Erik!" she scolded once he had let go of her, "what are you doing hiding behind my curtain?"

She placed a hand to her chest to stop the frantic beating of her heart. Startled shouts and running feet pulled her attention from the window, and she pulled the curtains closed to block him from view just as the door to her bedroom banged open.

The hostess' husband barreled into the room, a hand holding a candlestick holder raised high to beat down any potential threat, followed by her maid and her driver, Robert.

She stepped away from the window to draw their attention away from it as they surveyed the room for murderers and thieves.

"We heard you scream, miss, you alright?" The host asked as he and Robert averted their eyes from her scantily clad figure.

"Oh yes, I am alright. I thought that I had seen a mouse, is all. I am very sorry to have troubled you, everything is fine." With the shock still causing her heart to beat frantically it was easy to pretend that she had only been startled by a mouse.

"Well, if you're alright, then…" he trailed off uncomfortably.

"Yes, I'm fine, it must be gone by now. Very sorry to have bothered you, I'll just go to sleep now." She shooed them out her door and leaned her back against it once it had closed, faintly hearing someone mutter what sounded like 'women' then the footsteps thumped down the stairs and she locked her door.

Erik pushed the curtains aside and stepped into her room, only to halt as he recognized the look on her face.

"How dare you come into my room and frighten me, when you have been gone off doing who knows what all day without any word. You're not the phantom of the opera anymore, you know, you just cannot go skulking around frightening people!" she whispered as loudly as she dared, wishing that she could yell at him for scaring her so.

He paused mid step to look at her incredulously, this woman, this small golden haired slip of a girl, was scolding him? His lips quirked into the beginnings of a smile, which only made Madison angrier.

"You should not be in my bed chamber to begin with, Erik, this is highly inappropriate." Her hands crossed over her chest to preserve what she could of her modesty as she wished that she had a robe or even a wrap on hand to add another layer between her nakedness and him.

"Forgive me, Madison, I truly did not mean to startle you." His eyes raked her frame approvingly, "you look lovely tonight."

Madison stiffened and uncrossed her arms in defiance, challenging him to stare openly at her. She would not let him think that the way he looked at her made her uncomfortable, would not let him win.

He looked his fill, at the soft curves of her body and the sheerness of the fabric which let him see the faint outline of dusty nipples and a triangle of hair.

She was blushing faintly, he noticed, but she refused to let him intimidate her into covering herself more.

"Does your little breaking and entering serve a purpose, Erik? Is there a reason why you simply could not knock on my door?" she clenched her hands into fists at her side, wanting desperately to shield herself from his probing gaze, but too stubborn to be the first to give in.

"Would you rather I had knocked on your door, chancing that someone might see me enter your chamber at night? Because if so, I can exit and re-enter properly."

She stomped her bare foot and made a sound of unbelief, "oh, you are incorrigible. I suppose that I should forgive you for scaring me, I don't think that you meant to do it in the first place."

He shook his head in reply and moved towards her, around the bed, inch by torturously slow inch until he was standing directly in front of her, "No, I stayed behind the curtain because I thought that you might be a maid. I wanted to leave this for you." He handed her a box, as small as the palm of her hand with intricate panels of different types of wood and beautifully carved decorations, roses.

"Oh," she exclaimed as she unballed her fists to receive it, instantly forgiving him. It was heavy, denser than she had expected, and she turned it over and around to examine it, "does it open?"

Her brow furrowed when she noticed that there was no latch or any type of lid or hinge that she could find.

"Yes, it opens, but it is a puzzle box and the mechanic can be hard to figure out, unless you know the secret of course."

She looked up from the box to him, "what is the secret then?"

He raised a finger to his lips, and eyes dancing merrily, said, "but it would not be a secret if I told you, would it?"

Her lips smashed together in a firm line of anger, eyes sparkling hotly, "so you broke into my room to give me a puzzle which I obviously have to hope of solving? And just how did you get into my room anyways?"

His smile widened, "I climbed over my balcony into yours, but that is of little consequence now. You have not even tried to solve it."

She set it down on the nightstand behind her and turned back to him, "I've no need of puzzles tonight, Erik, I am not in a good mood."

His hands dropped in disappointment, "I thought that you had forgiven me for scaring you. It really was an accident, Madison."

She sighed and rubbed a temple, pushing her drying hair out of the way, "oh Erik, you are such a man, aren't you. Oh, you pretend to be this tortured artist, but really you are just like any other man, oblivious."

His brow furrowed in confusion and the beginnings of anger, though a small part of him soared that she thought of him like any other man, any other suitor, and not some social pariah to be pitied. "You are cross with me, and I do not know why."

She sighed and moved to sit on the edge of the bed, the one hand rubbing circles on the temple, trying to ward off the beginnings of a headache. "No, I suppose you do not know why. Shall I tell you? Or let you figure it out on your own?"

She looked up at him, one half of his face contorting into frustration, the other covered by the expressionless mask. "The fact is, Erik, that you left me alone all day to deal with the gossiping mamas and their brainless daughters, while you were out doing who knows what for who knows how long."

He sank down on the edge of the bed beside her, and covered her free hand with his own "Madison," he began, but she interrupted him.

"Don't, I know that you did not mean to do it, didn't even realize that you were doing it. They just put me in such a terrible mood today with their side-long looks and too-loud whispers."

He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side so that she had to lay her head against his shoulder, then moved his arm down to rub lazy circles around her rib cage. His fingers brushed accidentally against the underside of her breast.

The movement shocked her into remembering that they were sitting on her bed, alone, and she was scantily clad. She jumped from the bed, cheeks pinkening even as her nipples pebbled in excitement, betraying her. "You should go, Erik, it is late and I am tired."

He regarded her thoughtfully, and then leaned back on both arms on the bed, "oh, I do not think that you are tired at all," he drawled in a sultry tone.

Madison fidgeted nervously from one foot to the other, "truly, Erik, you should go back to your own bedroom now for I grow tired and my head is beginning to ache."

He straightened up, rising to stand beside her, "Madison," he began in all seriousness, "you must know that I will never force myself upon you, that you may say no to my advances and I will respect your wishes."

She swallowed nervously and nodded, butterflies fluttering in her stomach suddenly as he moved to grasp her hands in his and slowly turned her so that his arms were wrapped around her frame, pushing her against him, and she saw them reflected in the long dressing mirror.

She closed her eyes as he pressed soft kisses against her neck, his hands on top of hers forcing them to explore her own body. The mask made his ministrations on her neck awkward, so he shifted his attention to her earlobe and alternated sucking and biting it as his tongue trailed across her jaw and his hands forced hers to caress her thighs, then inch the fabric of her night shift up, up, up, one slow inch at a time.

Madison opened her eyes and nodded slightly and watched their reflection as he used her hands to pull the garment over her head and toss it to the floor. She stood trembling from the sudden shock of air against bare skin and the idea that she was letting him see her exposed.

It brought a throbbing to the junction between her legs, along with the hint of moisture, as his eyes devoured the sight of her. When his hands returned to her body she moaned softly, reveling in the feeling of his slightly callused hands against the sensitive flesh of her thighs, and hips, and stomach, and breasts.

He cupped the globes of tender flesh, fingers rolling over her erect nipple, eliciting another moan as she closed her eyes. "You are so beautiful," he told her, and watched as she turned in his embrace to pull his shirt free of his trousers, and one by one free the buttons until the shirt splayed open and revealed his strong chest.

Erik brought his face down to hers and captured her lips in a kiss that was torturously slow as she pushed the shirt from him and made to undo his trousers.

His hand on hers made her pause, "no Madison, I will not dishonor you, and if I remove my trousers than nothing in the world could stop me from taking you completely."

She paused, confused, "you do not… but I thought that you wanted to join?"

"There are more types of pleasure, ones that do not require joining completely," he answered.

He leaned her back against the bed and climbed up to lay beside her. His hand explored every inch of her from collar bone to breast, from the smooth skin of her belly to the sharp flare of her hip and her supple thigh. His fingers teased her, trailing everywhere but the part that needed him the most, and then his mouth joined the game by capturing one breast, his tongue swirling deliciously around the nipple.

He teased her with his hands, and then his mouth, and after she came, Madison returned the favor, exploring his body with her hands a tongue until he too was spent and they were exhausted.

He pulled her up to him and together they crawled under the covers, she settled into the crook of his arm, and he held her. Resting his chin atop her head he stroked her back and ran his fingers through her hair and murmured his confession, "oh God, Madison, I love you."

But she was already asleep, a faint smile on her face, as she sank into his embrace.

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone's advice on the Christine and Raoul issue, I know what I'm going to be doing about it now. Thanks to all of the reviewers!


	26. Rumors

**Disclaimer: Please see the prologue**

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 25**

**Rumors**

**Not Censored**

Madison stretched lazily as she awoke in her rented bed at the Oakwood Inn, eyes fluttering open as sunlight streamed in a narrow line into her room from a crack in the thick curtains.

She rolled over to place a hand on the side of the bed that Erik had slept on, which was now empty. Only the rumpled sheets and warmth indicated that he had truly been there at all, that last night had actually happened and was not simply another tormenting dream.

A pretty blush stained her cheeks as she remembered the events, the way that his eyes had devoured her lush figure, his hands had caressed her body, and the way that she had received and given pleasure. Her hands fluttered to her lips as she bit one corner and thought back to the brazen, unladylike thing that she had done.

She smiled, her face showing no hint of remorse, and pushed the covers aside to spring from the bed and get ready for the busy day ahead of them. Dressing quickly she exchanged her silk nightshift for a fresh cotton one and rang for her maid Sarah, who answered at once and proceeded to help her dress in a simple yet refined dark green velvet walking dress with soft brown kid gloves and a matching brown and green satin bonnet.

Madison sat at the vanity while Sarah kept her mind busy with the latest city gossip and pulled her hair up into an elegant twist with silver pins. Her hand drifted to finger one corner of the puzzle box that Erik had left for her.

"That's a pretty box, miss, what's in it?" Sarah asked her.

She looked up into the maid's reflection in the little oval mirror and replied, "hmm? Oh, I do not know. It was a gift."

The maid tucked one last pin painfully into place and craned her head to look at the box in question more thoroughly, "You say you don't know… It opens, doesn't it?"

Madison nodded and picked up the infuriating little wooden box that Erik had left for her, fingers tracing the delicate carvings. "Yes," she answered, "Erik gave it to me yesterday but would not tell me how to open it. Some difficult trick or mechanism, I assume, since I can find no hinge or normal means to open it."

The pretty, dark-skinned maid smiled sympathetically and smoothed the last of Madison's fine hairs into place and pronounced the up-do complete.

She replaced the puzzle box carefully on the vanity table and rose to gather her reticule, and together the two women made their way to breakfast.

Erik was already seated at the grand dining table, one hand stirring the spoon in his tea cup as he leaned lazily into the back of his chair. When Madison seated herself opposite him, he straightened in his chair a bit and cast a furtive look her way.

Head bowed Madison busied herself by spooning blackberry jam onto a piece of toast, and warm eggs onto her plate from the covered platters in the middle of the table. She looked up through her lashes at him and smiled.

Suddenly Erik became very absorbed in his tea as he lowered his gaze to watch the cooling liquid dissolve the sugar cube in the bottom of the cup.

Her smile widened even as a slight blush painted her cheeks. The man who had boldly undressed, touched, and pleasured her last night, was sitting across from her embarrassed. It felt wonderful, for all of the times that he had angered or inflamed her on purpose only to leave her irritated or aroused, to be on the other end of the teasing.

She made a show of eating her jam slathered bread, licking her fingers suggestively when a bit of the blackberry preserves had smeared onto her fingers.

Erik sat ramrod still, the tea cup forgotten as he schooled his face into a neutral expression. The only thing that betrayed his carefully bottled emotions was the flaring of his nostrils.

Her smirk faded as the other guests of the inn joined them for breakfast, a middle aged couple, and a well dressed young man.

Erik's eyes met hers across the table, promising payback. Madison grinned and took a bite of her eggs, chewing thoughtfully.

The meal was a pleasant affair as the elderly couple pulled the bachelor into polite conversation as they talked about the fair weather, it was cold with a slight wind but at least the sun was out, and the beauty of the inn's gardens, the roses are truly lovely and weren't there primroses as well mixed in, but neither Erik nor Madison cared much for the elderly woman's chatter, so they spent the meal sitting quietly from one another and stealing sly glances between bites of egg and toast and sips of tea.

Once breakfast was eaten and servants came to take the plates away Erik stood from his chair and came around the table slowly, extending one arm to help Madison rise, and as she looped her arm through his they walked outside, Sarah following one step behind, to hail a cab.

Their first destination was a cobbler which resulted in a new pair of shiny black ankle boots, and three pairs of evening shoes with small heels in gold, dark blue, and silver. Each had extensive detailing with lace and glass crystals in different, unique patterns. Erik stood patiently at her side as she chose her 

selections, and an hour later they were tucked back into the cab, the boxes holding her purchases put discretely under the seat, and they were off to the other end of the shops to the milliner.

Two hours and two satin bonnets later they sent Sarah with the packages and cab back to the inn, and arm in arm began the short walk to a little café near the inn.

Passing men and women cast curious glances their way, whether to catch a glimpse of the masked man or the scandalous woman, Madison did not know. But as they entered the charming restaurant and were shown to their table all eyes turned to them and conversations lulled.

Erik pulled the chair out for her, pushing her to the table, and then took his own across from her. As the waiter brought their menus and filled their water glasses the interrupted conversations were replaced with low whispers and a few rude giggles. They ignored the obviously gossiping luncheoners to peruse the menu.

Madison caught Erik's gaze after they had ordered, roast quail with seasoned potatoes and asparagus for him, and cedar plank salmon with buttered vegetables for her, and noticed the uneasy way he sat in his chair as he surveyed the room and the people around them.

"Ignore them Erik, showing discomfort will only entice them more, rather like an antelope faltering in front of hungry lions."

He returned his gaze to her and smiled slightly, the unease still evident on his face. "Did you just compare your peers to savage beasts?" he asked her comically. Madison grinned unladylike, her laugh tinkling with unabashed pleasure, "yes, the analogy is rather fitting, is it not?"

He smiled and uncurled his fists to lay flat against the table top. She placed a comforting hand upon his and ignored the sudden increase in chatter around them. "Thank you," she murmured sincerely, "I know that their speculation must make you very uncomfortable. And the only way that I can stand to sit here, listening to them, is because you are sitting here, with me."

He nodded dumbly, pulling his hands back as the waiter carried a large silver tray to their table, pulling the cover off and depositing their plates before them. He poured a bottle of the finest white wine into their glasses and discretely left them to their meal.

Snatched of hushed conversation drifted their way while Erik and Madison dined, "…there a ring?", "…can't see much…", "…makes you wonder what happened…", "…yes, always with that mask from what I hear from…", "…with the gypsies.", "Terribly improper do you not agree…", "her poor father…", "I wonder how far along she is…"

The last comment proved to be too terrible as Erik sought out the owner, a mousy woman in a dress that was in the height of fashion but an awful shade of mauve, and narrowed his startling gold eyes in silent threat. She squeaked in surprise, a harsh blush staining her cheeks, and looked away.

In between bites of salmon and carrot Madison smiled at his angry face and patted his hand reassuringly. She had expected as much from the towns people, but just the same, watching his desire to leap to her defense sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

As she watched him glare at the others in the restaurant, stifling their rude comments, Madison realized that she was falling head over heels in love with this strange, wonderful man.

The rest of the meal was eaten in comfortable silence as topic around the room turned to more mundane things, the novelty of Madison and Erik wearing thin.

Once the meal had been paid for they rose from their chairs and left the restaurant to walk the short three blocks to the inn.

She leaned her arm into his as they walked, heels clacking sharply against the cobblestones, as carriages passed and people milled about from shop to shop. A young woman pushed a lacy, white baby carriage ahead of her, dipping her head to Madison and Erik as she passed.

She looked back at the woman, who seemed to radiate happiness as she stopped the carriage to adjust the blankets protecting her infant from the weather, and paused in mid-step. Would she and Erik have children, she wondered, and suddenly found the prospect a little less terrifying than before.

He looked down at her in silent question and she shook her head to get rid of the wool that was suddenly gathering as she was lost in thought.

A moment later they were arrived at the inn and Madison was whisked to her room by Sarah, while Erik watched them go, then climbed the stairs behind them and made his way to his own room.

* * *

Dinner that night was a curious affair. While Madison was talking amicably with the elderly woman from breakfast, she would on occasion catch Erik's gaze. His eyes were smoldering pools of gold, catching the candlelight as he regarded her thoughtfully.

The way that he was watching her made her pause, unease filling her as she wondered what secret he had planned, and was obviously gloating over. She quirked her brow in question, but he shook his head no and mouthed the word 'later' from across the table.

She turned her attention back to Mrs. Turner who was regaling her with stories of her youth, and smiled and nodded at the appropriate intervals in the conversation.

Once desert had been finished and Mr. and Mrs. Turner rose to excuse themselves, Erik and Madison were left alone at the table. She smiled and furrowed her brow and asked, "what?" She wasn't sure she wanted an answer.

He shook his head no again and rose, the legs of the chair scraping against the wooden floor as he walked around the table and took her hand in his, helping her from her chair.

Erik stood a little too closely once she had risen from the table, but when Madison made to step away when he would not, he grasped her elbow and halted her progress. "What is it?" she asked a little more loudly.

He smiled and leaned forward until his face brushed against her neck, his warm breath tickling the fine hairs, "you're perfume," he murmured, "it has been enchanting me all evening. It is new isn't it?"

She nodded dumbly as her body suddenly became aware of how close they were standing. The butterflies once again began to flutter in her stomach. "You noticed…" she muttered, "I did not think you would."

His grasp on her elbow loosened as his other hand rose to trace her jaw line, "I notice everything about you Madison." But as he craned his head down to capture her parted lips in a kiss servants bustled into the room to clear the table, starling them.

He pulled back with a sigh, "meet me in the garden, in a few moments, and bring the box I gave you." She nodded and watched him stalk away from the dining room, and as her heart pounded in her chest she thought to herself, 'oh yes, I am most definitely falling in love with him.'

She hurried up to her room where Sarah was waiting to help her change from her dress to her night clothes. "I have decided to tour the inn's gardens with my fiancé," she told the maid as she grabbed her warm shawl and the box from the vanity table.

Madison walked briskly, Sarah in tow, down the stairs and out the back to the faintly lit garden. Gas lanterns hung on posts around the walkway, lighting the gravel path through the carefully pruned rose bushes and trees until she made her way to the wooden gazebo in the back.

He was standing in the shadow fingering a yellow rose from a climbing rose vine that had wrapped itself around a wooden post, hanging on through sheer willpower and sharp thorns. Erik turned to watch the maid busy herself with some knitting on the stone bench that was in range of the gazebo and the couple, but far enough away to afford them some privacy.

Madison climbed the three short steps until she stood next to him inside the structure. She sighed contentedly and sat with him, their knees bumping. The nearby lantern cast a soft glow against him, softening the white mask until it seemed to blend into his skin.

She held the wooden box, forgotten, against her leg and reached to grasp his hand in hers, turning into him and cocking her head, "now will you tell me what all of this oddness is about?"

"The box?" he asked, and pulled his hand from hers to nervously pull at his clothing, and then to receive the beautiful little puzzle box which she handed to him. "Here is how you open it," he explained, and held it out to catch the light, pressing on one panel of wood until it slid ever so slightly to the right, then another, and two more until he placed his palm against the top panel and slid the whole thing off.

She exclaimed in delight at the intricate uniqueness of the design, clasping her hands in front of her, and as he slid the top panel off and reached inside he pulled out another box, a small black velvet one, which he handed to her.

Her breathing became erratic as she swallowed hard past the lump now lodged in her throat and nervously fingered the soft fabric. "Open it," he begged her, even as he set the puzzle box down and turned to face her.

And when seconds passed which seemed more like hours she finally lifted the lid of the box to see the most beautiful ring that she had ever seen. A large, deep blue round sapphire sat surrounded by a square of little diamonds that caught the meager light and shone brilliantly in their white gold setting.

Erik paused, watching her carefully as she pulled the ring from the box and blinked heavily. He mistook her silence for displeasure, "if… if you do not like it we can exchange it for a different one," he began but was cut off as she turned to him.

"Don't you dare take it back. Will you help me put it on?"

He nodded and carefully took the ring from her hand, and grasping her left hand he slid it past the knuckle to sit at the base of her fourth finger.

She stared at it a moment, mesmerized, before noticing that he was watching her in relieved amusement.

"Oh, Erik." She exclaimed as she tilted her head back to kiss him fully on the mouth, despite the protestations and sudden coughing fit of her chaperone. "I love it, it's beautiful," she told him as he splayed his hand against the side of her face and stroked one finger along her jaw.

She smiled impishly and leaned in for another kiss, paying no attention to Sarah's fit.

Madison ached to tell him of the new revelation of her feelings for him, felt the words bubbling up and about to spill over into the real world, but before she could do more than begin to part her lips he began to speak.

"I filed the necessary papers yesterday, we can be married three weeks from today."

He was startled when she pulled away from him, his hand slipping from her face as she stared up at him incredulously before giving a sharp laugh, "oh, Erik, we cannot be married so soon." She smiled at his silliness and shook her head.

His brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed slightly. "What do you mean?" he asked, "I've filed all of the necessary paper work and paid the fee, we're booked for December 6th."

She stared at him in horror, backing away when he reached for her, "you cannot be serious Erik. That is only two weeks after the ball."

He was getting angry, she could tell, but at this moment she could not have cared less. "I fail to see the problem," he stated coolly while trying to rein in his emotions.

She scoffed, making an unladylike sound, "of course you do not," she muttered cruelly.

He was angry now, which was evident by the way he did not make to reach for her again, instead letting his voice take a cruel, superior tone. "And just what does that mean?"

Madison crossed her arms and answered hotly, "it means that you don't understand because the rumors are not about you. No, you are escaping this almost unscathed while the whole town wonders about me, speculating that right now I am with child."

"What does that matter? You are not, as they will find out in a few months, and then the whole thing will blow over."

Her mouth dropped open in shock and surprise, "blow over, you think that this thing will blow over if we hurry to get married? If we lived in the city, maybe, but I live hours away, in the country, and when I do not produce a child they will only assume that I lost it. It will never occur to them that I was never pregnant to begin with, Erik. And by then the family name will be completely tarnished. We could lose business, Erik, over something like this."

"I think that you are blowing this out of proportion, Madison, surely they will forget the whole affair when some other tidbit of gossip occurs."

"Blowing this out of proportion, am I? Being an irrational female?"

"There's really no need to be so upset, dear."

"Upset?" she asked, her eyebrows rising, "oh, I'll give you upset! And what about asking me, hmmm? You didn't even bother to consult with me on the matter, just ran off one day to do it all on your own."

His eyes glinted dangerously, "calm down, Madison."

But it was the wrong thing to say. She shot to her feet to glare down at him, the ring box falling to the floor. "Don't you dare tell me to calm down. You may be my fiancé but you do not control me, Erik."

His hands tightened into fists at his side as he sought the last bit of control in his reserve, "maybe if you listened to me, things such as this little predicament would not happen."

She took a step back as if he had actually assaulted her, placing a hand on her stomach to quell the beginnings of nausea. "So that's what this is about. All this time you've told me that it was not my fault, that I should not blame myself, but really you believed all along that I deserved to be punished for my foolishness, hmm?"

"I never…" he began to protest but was cut short.

"Don't." Her voice took on a dangerous, soft tone, no longer yelling. "Just, don't. Did you ever stop to think that it was our argument that drove me to ride out that night? That I never planned to do it until you commanded me not to? No, I guess that never occurred to you, that you were just as much at fault as I was."

He stared at her, unsure of what to do, of how to stop this argument before it ended poorly.

"Go back and change the date, Erik, before we leave tomorrow." And as she turned to leave the gazebo he called out to her.

"Or else… what?"

She threw a glance over her shoulder, meeting his eyes, "stop," she begged him, "don't say anything that will make me want to prove you wrong. Because you know how much I love to win."

He did, so he stayed silent, fuming in his anger and despair, as she and her maid traveled the short distance to the inn and disappeared inside.

Erik punched the wall of the gazebo, felt skin split and warmth on his hand as blood ran in thin rivulets down his fingers to drop of the wooden planks of the floor. The pain helped clear the anger from his soul, allowed him to think.

* * *

Madison raised her arms as Sarah pulled the dress and corset off of her, folding them neatly into her valise. As Sarah left the room, she exchanged her used shift for a clean one, pulling off stockings and garters and the silver pins from her hair.

She felt numb as she moved through the motions of getting ready for bed. Only when she blew out the lamp and climbed under the covers did she allow the emotions of the day to wash over her.

The stinging beginnings of tears pricked her eyes as she wrapped her arms around herself and curled up on her side.

And when the sobs wracked her frame she covered her mouth to stifle any pitiful sounds.

**Author's Note: Yes, I know, sad ending. But as I've mentioned earlier, they'll be stupid till the end. The lack of reviews on the last chapter has me a little worried that you guys didn't like it, or where I am going with the story. Please, please drop me a line if something rubs you the wrong way, or if the chapter feels weird. Or if you loved it. Criticism lets me know what I need to work on, praise keeps me going. : )**


	27. Compromise

**Disclaimer: Please see the prologue**

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 26**

**Compromise**

**Not Censored**

Madison rubbed her weary eyes as she woke slowly, rolling over in the bed in an attempt to seek a new and more comfortable position that would alleviate the ache in her body.

As the covers twisted around her frame she moaned in frustration and kicked them off. It was no use, her entire body ached and she was exhausted but sleep eluded her. Her conscience forbade her from returning to sleep, so she opened her eyes in the still dark room and studied the ceiling.

Thoughts on the big fight trickled into her awareness. Covering her eyes she turned onto her side and berated herself. Why had she blown things so out of proportion, made such a big deal out of something that could have been solved with simple reasoning? Erik was a sensible man, and there really was no good reason for her to have gotten so upset.

She sighed, rubbing her tired eyes and sighing, trying to discern her fate in the patterns on the ceiling as the predawn light filtered in through the curtains.

And as she lay there, replaying the horrible conversation over and over again in her head, Madison ruminated over the causes for her actions. The stress of the day, the sudden frustration that he had planned an important part of the wedding without her, and her embarrassment at having put them in such a horrible situation had certainly been factors in her tantrum.

Guilt and regret built into a lump of dread in her stomach until she was certain that the only thing that could alleviate it would be a heartfelt apology. So she rose from the bed to search her belongings for her thick wool wrapper, tied it around her shoulders, and slipped from her room silently.

The hallway was empty this early in the morning, but still she quickly looked both ways before fully exiting her room and crossing the few short feet to stand in front of Erik's door.

Standing in front of it she faltered, hand raised in a fist to rap on the door she paused, debating if this was in all actuality a good idea, but before she could back out of her commitment to apologize, she knocked two knuckles against the oak so softly that she wondered if he would hear it.

A moment passed and Madison leaned her face against the door to listen for signs of movement, and upon hearing none she rapped softly again.

Another moment passed, and just as she was turning to go back to her own room she heard rustling and the faint creak of a floorboard. She stepped back from the door just as it cracked open.

He stood in the crack of the doorway clad only in wrinkled black trousers and the white leather mask, and from the faint light trickling into the hallway through the windows she glimpsed the curve of smooth muscle and a fine smattering of dark brown hair in a trail that ended at his waistband.

He said nothing, letting her fidget on his doorstep, until she spoke, "Erik, please let me in, we need to talk," and with saddened eyes he opened the door to let her slip inside.

With a resolute click they were alone. Erik motioned her to sit with him on the small couch that rested against one wall.

She fingered the engagement ring as she decided how best to express her feelings, and just as she was about to speak he laid a hand on hers.

"Keep it," he told her resolutely, telling her with those two words that he understood her plight and was going to make this easier for her.

Her brow crinkled in confusion, thoroughly breaking her concentration and the speech that she had prepared. "Erik," she began, her voice strained with emotion.

He tightened his hold on her hands and shook his head, "you do not have to explain, I understand. Please keep the ring, to remember me by."

Her eyes widened in shock, brow crinkling even more as she looked at him incredulously. "Oh Erik, you do not understand at all."

His jaw clinched in restrained anger, "how could I when you never explain anything to me?" he asked bitterly. But his scowl turned to wariness as she laughed softly and threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into her.

"You have the right to be angry with me, I acted like a child and I am truly sorry. Oh, I can't believe that you thought that I was ending our engagement, you silly man."

He pushed her back gently so that he could look at her, lines of confusion etched into his face. "You are not? But I thought… then why…?"

She dropped her gaze, ashamed, "I came to apologize for the way I acted. You were right, I was making a big fuss over something that could have been solved quite easily. Frankly, I'm not even sure why it made me so upset."

He watched her toy with her wool wrapper as she spoke, "I have been thinking, and I believe that part of it was due to the frustrations of this trip. I was not allowed to be angry with those horrible gossips, so I misplaced my anger on the first available target, you. And I think, also, that I am afraid of losing you one day, and in some twisted logic believed that it would be better to push you away now before I fall any harder for you."

She looked up at him beseechingly, eyes moist and nose slightly red from her earlier bout of crying to judge his face for a sign of her fate.

"Forgive me, please," she asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

He gripped her hands again in his and brought them to his lips for a gentle kiss and murmured, "of course," against her soft skin.

She closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. "I also wanted to explain why we must wait a little longer to be married. If we rush and have the service in three weeks the gossip will never stop and it could affect business. I have already caused my father enough grief without fanning the flames."

He studied her coolly, "alright, I believe I understand a little now. Although I still say to hell with them, let them talk…"

She cast him a pleading look.

"Alright, no need to make those eyes. I will push back the date."

She smiled broadly, "four months will be perfect."

His shock showed on his face as he reeled back in surprise, "four months? Certainly not. Two is plenty to stay their tongues and please your father."

"Two months? Erik, that is hardly any better than three weeks. We need a longer engagement, to show that we are not merely marrying for decency's sake."

He let out a long breath and kept his voice steady, he did not want to fight about this anymore, "two months is more than generous for the townspeople. It will give you enough time to plan the perfect wedding, have your dress finished, and for everyone to see that you are not in the family way." The last two words he spit out with obvious scorn.

Madison opened her mouth to protest, and remembering that she had come here to make peace, not argue, she shut her mouth resolutely and nodded. Two months was not that unreasonable after all.

He breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes, preparing himself for what was to come.

"But while forgiveness is the topic, I fear that I must also ask you to pardon my transgression."

She pulled back from him to study him, elation settling once more into the beginnings of dread, "for what?" she asked.

He bowed his head slightly, "there are certain aspects of my past that I have not been completely honest about, some of the things that I have done…"

She brushed a lock of her hair behind an ear and gestured for him to continue.

"I have done things, hurt other men."

She blinked slowly, trying to understand and absorb what he was trying to tell her, "what sort of things?"

He hung his head, no longer able to meet her gaze, "I have killed men."

When she was silent, making no sudden outburst or backing away, he raised his head to look into her eyes and saw only sadness instead of hatred. "Why?" she asked almost inaudibly, her voice a brief whisper.

He squared his shoulders to hide his insecurity and began to explain. "The first man I killed was the gypsy who held me captive, he was a belligerent, cruel drunk and I have never felt sorrow for taking his life."

Madison nodded, remembering him tell her of the cruelty of the traveling gypsy camp who paraded him like a beast. She closed her eyes, squeezing them shut to clear away the prickling of tears that always happened when she thought of his past. How could one person ever have survived such cruelty?

When she had opened her eyes she noticed that Erik was watching her for a reaction. He continued to explain, "I told you that I was commissioned by the sultan of Persia to construct things for him. They were not buildings, as I led you to believe. His mother, the Khanum, was an evil, insane woman who had me use my architectural skills to build torture devices for her."

"Torture devices…" Madison said almost unbelievingly.

He told her about the more horrific parts of Persia, of the mirrored room with the metal tree and noose and Josef Buquet stumbling into it, most likely while trying to rob him, and his subsequent death; told her about Piangi, the only halfway-innocent man that he had killed and the resulting guilt. Throughout the whole ordeal she remained silent, letting him purge his guilt without interruption.

She was stunned, had known that his past was dark and unloving, but the thought of being forced to create such horrible weapons was so completely foreign to her that it left her speechless. She had never fully understood the atrocities that he must have faced.

Shock, slight horror, but above all she felt sadness that his life had come to this; at the acts that he had been driven to commit just because of a physical abnormality.

Slowly, so that he might pull away, she reached a hand up to his face, fingers deftly finding the small hook that held the mask in place, and with a flick of a nail the wire sprang free from the metal loop and the it dropped gently into her hand. She placed it between them on the couch cushion and gently trailed her fingers down the red, uneven side of him.

A tear trailed unbidden down the perfect side of his face as she explored the ridge under his right eye and the uneven skin. It was rougher and redder than the rest of him, most likely from where the mask pressed against the skin and rubbed.

"I don't understand…" she said even as her fingers brushed up and down his face.

He shuddered a little before closing his eyes, marveling at the silky soft fingertips caressing him.

She finished her thought, "why people fear you, this, so much."

He covered her hand with his own even as tears began to stream down his face in silent rivulets. "How can you possibly be so understanding?"

She smiled at that, lips quirking in amusement before fading into seriousness. "I cannot say that I am comfortable with the fact that you have killed people, Erik. But I will not condemn you for doing what you had to do to survive." Madison raised her other hand so that she grabbed both sides of his face. "I will forgive you from keeping secrets, if you will forgive me for acting like a spoiled child."

And when he nodded she pulled his face down to hers for a long, sweet kiss that made them forget the rest of the world.

She wrapped her arms around his neck to run her fingers through his hair, and he wrapped his around her slim waist and pressed delicately into her back.

His hand wandered, first to rub her back and shoulders, then to caress and knead her backside even as her own hands wandered, feeling the taut muscles of his neck and back and the smoothness of his skin. Her wrapper parted, falling off one shoulder to reveal her thick white wool nightgown.

As his lips left hers to lick across her jaw and continue down to the side of her neck and his hand grabbed her thigh to rub little circles in the soft flesh she moaned, ever so slightly.

Faint, shuffling footsteps outside in the hallway brought them back to reality. Madison pulled back in alarm, glancing wildly around the room for a clock, and when her probing eyes finally landed on it and read the time she jumped up off of the couch, startling Erik who asked, "what is wrong?" even as he tried to pull her back down to him.

"Oh no, no, no, no, that cannot be the time."

Erik looked to the small mantel clock. It was twenty three minutes past eight. He wondered how almost two hours had gone by unnoticed and watched bemused as Madison wrung her hands furiously. He laughed, a small chuckle at the amusing site of her fretting over the time.

"This is not funny Erik!" she whispered as loud as she dared. This only served to widen the smile on his face, which Madison noted, make the unmasked portion less menacing. She liked his smile, it softened him. He seemed to realize her train of thought, picking up the mask and slipping it on as he hooked the thin wire in place and rose from the couch to calm her.

"What is so wrong that it has you in such a state?" he asked.

She narrowed her eyes at the tone of his voice, "what's wrong? Only that I am in your room, un chaperoned, in my nightclothes no less, and the whole house is waking up. That is what is wrong."

He brushed a stray curl from her face, "dear, have you ever stopped to wonder that underneath it all you put yourself into these positions on purpose?"

She paused, shocked and weary. "What do you mean? Why would I do this on purpose?"

"Perhaps you do not realize that you are even doing it when you are, but I believe that on some level you want to get caught in a compromising position?"

Narrowing her eyes in trepidation she looked up at him questioningly.

He continued, "the slow seduction in your father's house, hiding behind bookshelves and in barns with maids and servants and your father turning the corner. Or running off to a gypsy camp when you knew that Ummi would not keep your secret, and that I would follow." He leaned into her to whisper the last line into her ear, so softly that she had to strain to hear him, "or when you let me into your bed chamber, at night, with no chaperone, and I undressed you," he ran a hand down her side eliciting a shudder as he continued, "and touched you," his hand grazed a breast as his mouth came dangerously close to the shell of her ear, "and kissed you," then bit the ear lobe gently and cupped one breast, "and licked you. Face the facts, sweetheart, you love to flirt with danger."

And as his hand kneaded the soft flesh of her breast, rolling the nipple between two fingers and grazing it with the nail of his thumb through the fabric of her nightgown, she sighed deeply and shut her eyes to his ministrations.

"We can talk about this another day, but now you need to get back into your own room."

She groaned in frustration but conceded when she heard more footsteps and the creak of a floorboard from the hallway. "How? The hallway will be crawling with maids."

He smiled and raised her hand to his lips to kiss the knuckles, "you forgot one thing."

She arched one brow, "and what is that?"

"I am the opera ghost," he said as he led her outside the small door to his balcony and walked her to the railing beside hers.

She looked at him expectantly, and when she understood what he was telling her, she balked, "Erik! There is a good three feet of open air between the balconies. You cannot seriously expect me to climb over that."

He simply smiled, and half stepping over the short balcony railing to straddle it he pulled her to him and helped her over the metal bars to the small ledge and guided her to the other side. And when she was safely at her own balcony door, slightly white faced but smiling hopefully, he grinned and watched her turn the latch and safely enter her bed chamber. It was a good thing that she had not bothered to secure the latch last night.

Erik retreated into his own bedroom and began to dress. It was to be a very busy day with another trip to the church and marriage license broker, and then the long ride home.

His lips curved up into a devilish grin as he thought of how they could occupy themselves for four hours. He sighed, but what to do with the maid?

**Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoyed this installment. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, each and every one means so much to me. Especially from those who review on a regular basis, I couldn't be doing this without you. On a side note, reviews were mixed. About half loved the fight, and the other half complained about Madison being a brat. As I've said, she's got some growing up to do and I think that this chapter will help her characterization a bit. Also, I warned you guys, stupid till the end. I wasn't joking. Besides, a little angst makes the fluff seem sweeter.**


	28. Declarations

**Disclaimer: Please see the prologue**

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 27**

**Declarations**

**Not Censored**

Madison let out a shaky breath as she watched the sun begin to set from her bedroom window. It was the night before the grand announcement ball, and she was nervous. The golden rays bathed the land while the clouds darkened into pinks and oranges that were being swallowed by dusky purple. Soon the first stars of the night would be visible as the bright orb sank behind the mountain range in the distance.

The ride back from the city had been entirely uneventful, as the maid Sarah had managed to stay awake for the entire four boring hours it took to travel back to their home. All they could do was study each other, or engage in trite conversation as the maid carefully watched over them. Madison pondered their situation, wondering if the maid truly suspected that anything had happened while she was less than careful watching them, or if the young woman was merely well rested from the night before and could not be lulled into a shallow sleep from the swaying of the carriage.

She remembered smiling from under her lashes at him as he had shifted carefully on the padded bench opposite from her. The time had passed quickly, not as fast as the eventful trip into town, but fast all the same as they traded looks and engaged in carefully worded conversation.

Madison ran a hand through her hair as she thought about returning home last week, of the moments in the past few days that they had stolen away to be together. She hated that he continued to stay on at her father's house when there were so many empty bedrooms here, but propriety dictated that they could not live under the same roof until they were married.

The corners of her mouth tipped up into a sinful smile as she remembered the stolen times together. It was not a difficult thing for them to sneak away from the ever watching maids and servants, like they had before. But of all of the servants Ummi was the worst; she always finding excuses to enter whatever room Erik and Madison were in when he called upon her for courting. So they had taken to meeting on their own, when the sun had set and they would not be bothered by prying eyes and ears.

She laughed to herself and brought a finger up to rub against the glass of the cool window pane when she heard a soft knock coming from her adjoining bathroom. Crossing into the bathing chamber she depressed the hidden latch and smiled coyly as Erik stepped from the narrow space in the towel cabinet and into the room and pulled her flush against him in a quick embrace.

"I was wondering when you would show up. You left me alone, all day, and I was so terribly bored" she said playfully as her mouth turned down into a moue. She watched as he removed his heavy coat and shoes, throwing them haphazardly on the floor.

"Hmm, bored you say? Perhaps I can think of something to alleviate your boredom," he replied even as his hands wandered to grab her just below the swell of her hips and pull her close, and as she encircled her arms around his neck to hold him there.

"Oh? And what are you thinking about doing?"

She sighed as he brought his head down to capture her lips in a too short kiss before replying, "this, I have been thinking about this all day," and he moved his mouth to the line of her jaw before trailing down her neck where he licked the spot above her pulse, which suddenly began to beat faster. She dropped her arms from his neck to grab gently at his arms as his head bent down to her collar bone where he ran his tongue along the creamy skin. One hand came around to her front, pulling the edge of her dress down to reveal the curved top of one full breast, pushed up by her corset and covered by a lace edged chemise.

Madison moaned as his hand roughly grabbed the offered breast and his tongue traced a wet trail across the swell of it. "Stop," she begged him, "you are going to rip my dress."

But he didn't care; he could only think of revealing more creamy smooth skin. "I will buy you a new one."

She gently but forcefully shoved him away from her before reaching behind her back to undo the buttons that her hands could reach, "help me take it off?"

He nodded and casually walked behind her to undo the last of the buttons at the top and bottom of the dress that she had not been able to undo herself. He grabbed the skirts and jerked the material up as she raised her arms. Once it was over her head and her arms had been removed from the sleeves he tossed it to the floor returned to his ministrations.

Shivering from the rush of air against her body and the feeling of his hands running over her frame, she closed her eyes and leaned her head back into the crook of his neck. He deftly pulled at the laces of her white corset, enjoying the sound of the braided cotton sliding against the fabric eyelets as he loosened the garment enough to unhook the steel busk in the front. His arms pressed against her straining breasts as he pinched the sides of the corset together before pulling them apart.

He pulled it from her and tossed it casually onto the floor. With her standing in front of him he suddenly had the most wonderfully advantageous view down the front of her light wool chemise. Pressing the uncovered portion of his face against hers he watched her full chest rise and fall with each breath before reaching around and inserting one hand into the top of her shift to cup one breast.

She inhaled sharply, eyes still closed, as she relished in the sensation of her nipple being rolled between slightly calloused fingers.

He paused in his ministrations and stepped from her, removed his gray vest and added it to the pile of cloth on the floor. Erik ran his fingers through the soft gold locks, smoothing the waves to one side of her body so that he could see and touch the graceful curve of her neck.

His breath tickled the fine hairs at the nape of her neck even as his hands roamed her barely clad body. Caressing her flat stomach and soft, stockinged thighs through her shift, he watched her expression in the mirror. He saw her eyes open, hooded with desire and she breathed slowly and turned in his grasp until she looked up at him.

As she gazed up at his glorious, amber eyes her hands moved to his shirt where they freed several buttons, and when it draped open across his broad shoulders she slipped a hand under to caress the smooth muscles and the few, fine hairs that dusted his chest. His eyes crinkled with humor, causing her to smile broadly. With both hands pressed firmly against his chest she guided him from her bathing chamber into the connected bedroom.

He pulled away from her to close the drapes, blocking out the last golden rays that settled into purple dusk, and then crossed the room to the door and locked it. Turning back to face her he grabbed the ends of his shirt and quickly freed the last few buttons, then shed the clothing carelessly on the floor.

Crossing the room to her was completed in a few long strides as he bent his head to hers, upturned, and placed a kiss upon her lips.

They enjoyed the simple pleasure of lips pressing against each other passionately as they stumbled to the bed, sliding quickly beneath the covers and removing the last of their clothing. A small lamp cast a soft glow around the now darkened room as they lay beside each other in the bed.

He ran a finger down her shoulder and arm and marveled at the soft skin. They lay there together in each other's arms, kissing unhurriedly as they explored with their hands and marveled at the sensation.

She found the faint traces of the whip marks on his back and ran one finger down a particularly long one. He shuddered beside her as she traced the puckered ridge; he watched her eyes mist. Madison imagined the frightened child who had not deserved these horrid marks, and the cruel gypsy man who had created them, and moved her hand to slide up his back and neck and jaw line. As her thumb moved up his chin to trace his mouth and he pressed a kiss against the sensitive pad.

"Sometimes," he began to say as she continued to touch his jaw line and mouth, "I wonder if I will wake up and this will all be a pleasant dream, for what have I ever done to deserve this happiness?" She leaned up on her arm to watch him better, "you have suffered greatly for things that you could not control. It is about time that you experience something joyful."

"I thought that I had experience true happiness, now I see that it was false. A pretty picture but insubstantial."

"I am certain that Madame Giry and the Persian cared for you; that Christine cared for you as much as she was able." He closed his eyes at her name, as if he could erase the bittersweet memories simply by wishing them away.

"It was not enough." He said harshly.

She leaned down to kiss his cheek and splayed her hand against his bare chest.

As she smiled down at him he watched the lamp light cast a glow about her features, highlighting the ridge of her cheekbone and casting a reflection in her large, hazel eyes.

"I have done so many horrible things."

She moved her fingers to press against his lips and silenced him, "leave the past in France, Erik, and live here, with me, now." He nodded and grabbed her fingers and playfully nipped at them. She giggled at the sensation and sighed happily as he rose slightly from the bed and shifted, forced her down into the goose feather filled mattress and pillow and half-laid upon her frame. Bending his head down, he licked a warm trail along her collar bone and delighted in the breathy sounds she made beneath him.

Madison stilled the wriggling movements that she had not even known she was making until they ended and grasped his shoulders. She groaned as he stroked the skin with his wet tongue and kneaded one soft breast, and then pressed her fingers more firmly into his arms until he left his ministrations and looked up at her.

Nervousness suddenly assaulted her as the words she had meant to say a week ago, had tried to say in several different moments of the past few days, bubbled up inside of her until they spilled out in a haphazard stumbling manner, "I love you."

He stilled, barely breathed, and raised up on his forearms so that he could look at her. His face betrayed his reluctant hopefulness. Her hands dropped from his arms to land dumbly on the mattress beside them as she watched him watching her.

Seconds passed until it felt like minutes had passed into hours as they watched each other, and then he smiled more sincerely than she had ever seen before, lowered himself, and pressed his lips against hers 

passionately. And as his mouth devoured hers and his hands slid down her body to fan against her waist and finger the flare of her hips and the jut of her hip bone, she moaned into him.

Mouth locked against mouth Erik pulled back enough to worry her bottom lip and whisper his feelings and the declaration of his love for her until she was smiling sweetly and arching up into him. They loved each other with hands and lips, and when they were exhausted they collapsed into each other's arms and sank into a peaceful sleep.

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, work and class have been taking up most of my time. Yes, no rest for me over the summer as I'm getting 8 credit hours out of the way for my last two semesters as an undergrad. Pray for me. Anyways, I wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed, especially Mlle. Fox, Hot4Gerry, and Timeflies who manage to review just about (if not exactly) every chapter. You guys keep me going! And I know that I keep saying this, but just a few more chapters left. He he. Is it bad that I'm looking forward to writing Madison's reaction to the letter? Well, you will just have to wait and see, because it's going to be good! And please let me know if I am inconsistent, confusing, or it's getting sue-ish please.**


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